They’re the couple that are so chronically online that they’ve built an entire empire from social media.
But Zoe Sugg, aka Zoella, and her soon-to-be husband Alfie Deyes have been missing for what feels like donkeys years.
And now we have our first update on the biggest mystery since the disappearance of Tanya Burr and Jim Chapman’s miniature Dachshund Martha.
The YouTube couple, who have been together since the heyday of the platform back in 2012, are used to sharing every element of their lives with fans, from daily vlogs to brand campaigns galore.
However Zoe, 36, has been totally absent for nearly six months, and after taking part in her usual Vlogmas, she vanished and shared her final post over the festive period.
Alfie, 32,meanwhile, has dipped in and out of his popular social media platforms and last posted back in April. A real contrast to his usual daily YouTube vlogs.
An update on the couple has now finally come to light, and it’s not quite what fans had anticipated.
Zoe and Alfie, who are proud parents to daughters Ottie, four, and Novie, two, have reportedly been building themselves a donkey sanctuary at their huge £1,700,000 home which has escalated into a local planning dispute in their quiet West Sussex village.
A post on the local parish council website in Brighton shows Alfie has submitted planning permission for a donkey farm. Yes, that’s right, Farmer Deyes has entered the chat.
Local planning documents reveal that Alfie recently acquired a five-acre plot of land just north of their home and has submitted a planning application to the local council seeking permission to build a tractor parking area, a donkey enclosure and stable, a wildlife pond, and three shepherd huts.
But the application has angered locals over parts of the development, including 2.1-metre-high boundary fencing and new access gates.
The residents have argued that the works will cause safety hazards over the newly created access point onto their private lane, and that the heavy vehicles needed to care for the donkeys will cause disruption and damage the root systems of mature trees.
Alfie’s planning agent has argued that the huts are not for residential or Airbnb use; instead, they will be used to store beekeeping equipment, land maintenance tools, donkey feed, and serve as a daytime rest room by the wildlife pond.
The project has received support from other neighbours, however, who say that the development is a sustainable return to the land’s historical agricultural roots and a genuine ecological asset.
Does that explain Zoe’s social media absence? Not entirely, but it has reassured fans that all is okay in the Deyes/Sugg household.
Metro has contacted representatives for Zoe and Alfie for comment.