Stephen Bear (and at least THIRTY others) FLOUT lockdown rules at restaurant and house party

Stephen Bear and around 30 of his friends have flouted the COVID-19 lockdown rules – and plastered it over social media.

The former Ex On The Beach contestant, 30, took to Instagram on Sunday to film events leading up to a mass gathering at what appeared to be a private dining room in a restaurant – despite hospitality venues currently being shut amid the pandemic. 

Stephen was joined by the likes of TOWIE stars Ella Rae Wise and Kelsey Stratford, who were both visible on the video. 

Ella even took to her Instagram Story on Sunday to share several updates of herself donning the same outfit she is wearing in the footage. 

The room was packed with at least 30 other people, sitting side-by-side around a large table, enjoying dinner and cake, despite the current two metre social distancing rules in place in the UK.

Celebrating the birthday of one of Stephen’s friends, the ex-Celebrity Big Brother winner filmed those in attendance, with some even covering their faces from the camera.

Others – who appeared over-excited – seemed less worried, including the waiter at the restaurant, despite the fact they were breaking the law. A giggling Stephen then invited the crowd back to his Essex home.

Some of the group were then filmed in a car driving to Stephen’s property. The group in the car – including the man driving the vehicle – appeared to be inhaling nitrous oxide from balloons before arriving to the house party.

Inside, Stephen and other guests filmed the party – which saw most of the attendees also inhaling from balloons – before brazenly uploading footage to Instagram Stories, seemingly nonplussed about it.

Stephen was heard joking that ‘the police will probably be called’ and making light of the country’s current 2 metre rule. 

Stephen’s friend Azza took to Instagram a month ago to post a snap from another of his birthdays, captioning it: ‘Little throwback, birthday again soon hope not locked down.’

The continued lockdown didn’t appear to stop him celebrating nonetheless. 

This comes after Prime Minster Boris Johnson made it illegal to have a non-member of your household inside your property, with only groups of six people or less allowed in someone’s garden.

The new regulation – which came into effect on June 1 – reads: ‘No person may participate in a gathering which takes place in a public or private place indoors, and consists of two or more persons.’

This means that the restaurant hosting the dinner earlier in the evening was also breaking the law.

The Government states on its website: ‘Close contact with people from other households means a much higher risk of transmission, and according to the scientific advice, we cannot safely allow people to see people they don’t live with indoors without the risk that the virus will spread.’

While police do not have the power to stop civilians entering other people’s houses, they can fine and arrest those that do.

This is the latest in a string of brushes with the law for Stephen, after he was allegedly taken into police custody after officers were called following reports of an assault on a woman in his home on May 20.

The TV personality was said to have been arrested on suspicion of actual bodily harm during a row with his girlfriend, but was subsequently released on bail, the Daily Star reported last week.

A source speaking to the publication claimed: ‘It all stemmed from Bear accusing her of cheating on him.

‘The woman said she would go around in the morning to explain, which she did, and he took her phone off her started reading all the messages. 

‘Bear found out she had allegedly been speaking to another guy and he lost it.’

In a statement to the Daily Star, Essex police said: ‘We received a report on 20 May that a woman had been assaulted at an address in Loughton. A 30 year-old man was arrested on suspicion of ABH. He has since been released on bail.’

MailOnline have contacted Stephens representatives and Essex police for comment.

On May 20, Stephen filmed as he was flanked by three policemen on his doorstep, after seemingly getting into an argument with his girlfriend.

The reality personality was heard in his own Instagram story asking the officers whether they’d be upset if their girlfriends ‘f**ked someone else’.

Stephen filmed the three men as they waited outside his house with him, with one seemingly guarding the front door.

Sounding frantic, Stephen accused his girlfriend – whose identity is not known – of cheating on him and then coming home to him and denying it straight after.

He was heard off-camera saying: ‘With the boys today – how’s it going chaps?’

This was met by silence from the policemen, after which the Ex On The Beach star asked one of them: ‘Would you be angry if your girlfriend f**ked someone else, brother?’

The sheepish officer guarding the door replied: ‘Not my place… I dont’ have [a girlfriend].’

Turning the camera to one of the others, Stephen asked: ‘Would you be angry mate? If your bird f**ked someone else?’

The officer mumbled something in return, to which the third chimed in: ‘Mate, listen, I don’t know what’s going on. I’m not going to start saying anything that’s…’

Stephen then cut in, declaring: ‘She left my house last night and f**ked someone else and then came round mine afterwards and denied it and I saw all the messages!’

He then turned the camera away from the officers and up to the sun in the sky adding: ‘I want to be left alone!’ The video then came to an end.

MailOnline approached Stephen for comment at the time.

It’s not known who the woman in question is – although Stephen’s allegations also suggest she not only cheated on the former Celebrity Big Brother winner but also flouted the UK’s lockdown rules.

The government asserts that people should not leave their own home and visit those in other households, and should remain 2m away from others at all times.

If she does not live with Stephen – or the person she allegedly cheated on him with – she has flouted the rules set out to suppress the current COVID-19 pandemic.

Stephen was rumoured to be dating TOWIE’s Yazmin Oukhellou, but a source close to the star asserted this was not the case, ruling her involvement out of Wednesday’s doorstep altercation. 

The pair were spotted cuddling as Yazmin locked up her boutique before heading to dinner at a local Turkish and Mediterranean restaurant last month.

Despite their cosy display, a source close to Yazmin told MailOnline: ‘Bear and Yazmin are just friends, she’s far too busy running her businesses to be dating anyone right now.’

Yazmin is currently single following her split from James Lock, who she dated on and off for two years, before splitting last year.

Stephen counts fellow reality stars Charlotte Crosby and Georgia Harrison as his exes.

The latter experienced a volatile romance with the hunk, with a source exclusively telling MailOnline last July that the Love Island star, 24, was locked out of the hotel room she shared with Bear as he went off with another girl in front of her.

The source added that he then tried to lie about barricading their room, which left Georgia without medication following a monkey bite, pretending he had instead ‘passed out’.

Georgia is said to be strong enough to deal with the betrayal and will never take him back, especially after he cruelly branded her a ‘rump and dump’ on Instagram.  

The source said: ‘Georgia is strong enough to deal with being treated this way but she feels sorry for girls that are young and impressionable and could really be emotionally damaged by men like Bear.

‘Basically Bear said he was in love with Georgia and wanted her to be his girlfriend etc. She knew it was all chat but she was having fun out there anyway. 

‘They were staying in a hotel together then he went off with another girl in front of her and locked her out the room.

‘Two days earlier Georgia had been bitten by a monkey and needed her medication to avoid getting infections, but couldn’t get in the room because of Bear.

‘She asked the hotel to open the door for her but Bear had barricaded it from the inside so nobody could get in. Then the next day he tried to act like he just passed out and lied to her about it.’ 

Georgia and Stephen were filmed having an explosive argument at the time, in which the Love Island beauty was seen throwing a book at the reality star.

Explaining their blazing row, the source continued: ‘The reason she threw a book at him was because she wouldn’t leave him alone and kept following her around.

‘Bear has hurt so many girls and s*****d off Charlotte Crosby to Georgia all the time. Georgia’s friends like Nicole Bass, tried to warn her about him but she followed her heart instead. Now thankfully she’ll never take him back.’