The Real Housewives of Cheshire spoilers: Stephanie Davis' ex Sam Reece meets Dawn and Ashley Ward

The sun may have put his hat on and scarpered right outta' here, but it's finally time to embrace the winter onesies once again and snuggle up on the sofa in front of some of our favourite guilty-pleasure programmes.

The Real Housewives of Cheshire is returning to ITVBe tonight (5 September) to ease us into autumn with a whole lot of arguing, acerbic snipes, incredibly diverse facial expressions from Tanya Bardsley and opulent mansions of footballers wives' dreams.

The first episode of the fourth series includes a new yet familiar face in the form of Stephanie Davis' ex-boyfriend Sam Reece. The Hollyoaks actress famously cheated on the male model – who also appeared on Channel 4's First Dates – with fellow housemate Jeremy McConnell during her stint on Celebrity Big Brother in January 2016. Stephanie has since split up with McConnell and announced that she is pregnant with his child.

Sam, meanwhile, has moved on and seems happier than ever. He is currently dating RHOC star Dawn Ward's beautiful blonde-haired daughter, Taylor, and will meet Dawn and husband Ashley in tonight's Meet-The-Parents style show.

Taylor's new boyfriend will also have the pleasure of meeting Lauren Simon – another Cheshire housewife who is recently divorced – and takes it upon herself to grill Sam. Ashley is left mortified when Lauren embarrasses everyone at the alfresco lunch in the garden of Warford Hall when she talks about sex.

Distasteful dinner table gags aside, viewers will be no doubt intrigued when Sam meets Dawn and Ashley for the very first time in a special moment.

Elsewhere in the episode, viewers will discover that the camp is still split between two groups within the women. As Tanya enters the final stages of pregnancy, friendships are at breaking point from gossip and postings on social media. Yikes.

Dawn is ticked off at Stacey and thinks she is manipulative while Seema gets back to business and prepares for her Autumn/Winter fashion collection. Misse gets back into modelling as a runway bride.

But with tensions brewing, we can almost ensure fireworks and the clitter-clattering of Louboutin heels for episode one.

The Real Housewives of Cheshire starts tonight at 10pm on ITVBe.