The Only Way Is Essex is a British reality television series based in Brentwood, Essex, England. It shows "real people in modified situations, saying unscripted lines but in a structured way." Broadcast on ITV2 from 2010, the series was moved to ITVBe in October 2014. The first series consisted of 10 episodes and ran for 30 minutes, with a Christmas special following later in the year. Due to popularity, the runtime was extended to 45-minute episodes and renewed for a year's airing. On 22 May 2011, the series won the Audience Award at the 2011 BAFTA Awards.

Amy Andrea Childs is an English model and television personality. In 2010, she appeared in the first two series of the ITV2 reality series The Only Way Is Essex, and subsequently starred in her own reality series It's All About Amy from 2011 to 2012. Childs came in fourth place in the Channel 5 series Celebrity Big Brother 8 in 2011 and, in 2014, she participated in the Channel 4 series The Jump. Childs returned to The Only Way Is Essex in 2020.