We were all shocked last night when, following the Sunday evening episode of The Only Way is Essex, news broke on Twitter that Sam and Billie Faiers - the smiley sisters who run Minnie's Boutique - had been brutally attacked and hospitalised.
With their fellow cast members sending remarkably restrained 'get well soon' wishes, it is hard not to think that there is something far more to this than the average cat fight. Within minutes of the rumours appearing on Twitter, a video surfaced showing Billie outside a nightclub, being repeatedly pulled to the floor by various girls (one of whom, remarkably, was standing behind a metal fence and yet still managed to floor her). Despite the huddle of burly security guards, Billie was attacked a further two times, and each time was brought to the floor by the sheer aggression of her attacker.
What is perhaps most remarkable about the story is that, prior to this, Billie had her bag stolen inside the nightclub. Following her sister's attack, Sam received a phone call from the thief, telling her to meet him/her in a field to reclaim the stolen property.
Rather than informing the Police, Sam went to meet the crooks, taking just one friend with her. Here, she was then set-upon by the thugs, kicked in the head so severely that she was rushed to hospital for a brain scan.
Whilst this event is practically alone in terms of its sheer malice and bizarre nature, it seems odd that the Faiers sisters - darling of the tabloid gossip columns - were so publicly attacked.
None of it quite adds up: why were the bouncers unable to protect Billie? Why was such a malicious attack so pre-meditated (with the theft of the handbag preceding the assault outside by a matter of hours) rather than a spur of the moment assault?
The celebrity PA is obviously the perfect target for the average deranged psycho to target, but for a gang of girls to attack two girls for no tangible reason is utterly bizarre.
That both the sisters managed to emerge from their respective attacks relatively unscathed is little short of a miracle - although the fact that Sam's attackers apparently only stopped kicking her in the head when they thought they had killed her is utterly terrifying.