#poolgate

Um, you've been reading the wrong blogs or fell and hit your head, and have a bad case of amnesia, Anon.

The VIDEO of Sam and Amy Shiels in the pool at L'Ermitage Hotel in Los Angeles in October 2014, was not posted by any PAPS, it was posted by their FRIEND, Faye Thomas. 👇

Fxt84 was her IG account. Now it's fayethomasphoto. She's a portrait photographer who was the LIVE-IN, long time GIRLFRIEND of Sam's good friend, fellow actor, Luke Neal. 👇

Because Sam was friends and FWB with Amy Shiels, Faye also became friends with Amy. 👇

Sam and Amy and Luke and Faye started hanging out in Los Angeles all the time when Sam went to L.A. for hiatus from Season 1 of Outlander.

So the infamous "poolgate" video came from Faye Thomas and not any paps. Sam and Amy didn't call the paps. Faye was hanging out with Sam and Amy. Sam and Amy decided to try the lift from Dirty Dancing and Faye videoed them for fun. Nothing more, nothing less.

Faye then posted it on her account. That's it. NO paps involved. 🤷‍♀️

As for Cait's friend and then L.A. roommate, actor, Simon Kassianides Tweeting something to the effect of "Cait would never." Well, I don't recall him doing that at all. BUT if he did, he would be correct. Can you picture Cait putting on a hot pink bikini and being tossed around in a pool like this?👇

That would be a big NOPE. So what? IF Simon did Tweet that, he was simply making a statement of fact. Or probably replying to an Extreme Shipper making a dumb comment asking why Cait wasn't in the pool with Sam. I don't get why you think that's a big deal. But again, I don't remember him doing that.

Anon, there's a difference between wanting privacy and Sam and Cait HIDING their REAL relationships. If Sam and Cait went out of their way to HIDE or DENY their relationships with NOT each other, then you would have a point. But they don't hide anything. Cait has been photographed MULTIPLE times over the YEARS with Tony. And Sam has been photographed MULTIPLE times over the YEARS with girlfriends or dates. Yes, they both want privacy to share only what they want to share about significant others. Again, that’s not the same as hiding things from fans. They've both certainly been out enough times with NOT each other, that any REASONABLE person will surmise they are romantically involved with OTHER people.

I'm not going to go digging for ALL the pics of Cait with Tony and Sam with the women he's dated, but here's a small sampling from a quick Google search. Sorry for the blurry quality of some, but they are screencaps of screencaps, etc. Credit to the respective owners of the pics.

Click on Keep Reading to see the rest of the post, including the pics.

Hi, Anon. I went and looked at actress, Kat McNamara's IG and sure enough, it looks like she was visiting London.

Kat seems to be friendly with some of the cast of Outlander, including Sam and Sophie and has posted pics with them before.

As for Sophie saying "We miss you already!" it could be the "royal we," after all, Sophie IS English. Or she could mean the group of UK friends Kat visited miss her already.

The other person who made a comment on Kat's IG post, matthewmmallalieu is another actor, who was a bartender at TwistLondon back in the day, along with Sam, his good friend Luke Neal, and Luke's brother, Matt Neal. They all bartended while trying to make it as actors. If I remember correctly, Matthew catsat Luke Neal and his then, girlfriend Faye Thomas' cat, while Luke and Faye spent a few months in L.A. That was in 2014, when Faye shot the infamous Poolgate video featuring wet, aviator glasses, golden, half naked, delicious Sam frolicking in the pool with Amy Shiels at a hotel pool in L.A. I think it was L'Ermitage. And for MOST of us, that's the day the music died, um, I mean the SamCait ship sunk. "Who the hell is that little blonde in the pink bikini with Sam?!" we collectively cried out. It's good to have a fandom historian, isn't it? But I digress...

Hi Anon, I just looked at the new post you're referring to on Faye's IG and it's such a lovely tribute to Kieran ❤ 👇

Interesting that Faye mentions Le Petit Ermitage in L.A.... That's the scene of the infamous "poolgate" video--the day most of the fandom realized Sam wasn't into Cait, but into petite blondes. Faye is the one who posted the video of Sam and Amy Shiels frolicking in the pool when Sam was on hiatus after Season 1 of Outlander. 👇 Seems like a lifetime ago.

As for you saying that there are rumors that Sam and Hannah James went to an art gallery with Faye and Kieran in London... I'd heard that but haven't gotten any confirmation. But given the recent pic of Sam and Hannah looking quite cozy together at that boxing match in Glasgow, I wouldn't be surprised.

Hopefully we get pics of Sam, Hannah or BOTH at Faye and Kieran's upcoming nuptials.

Oh, and you didn't mention it, Anon, but for those claiming there's nothing between Sam and Hannah because Hannah referred to her friend as "my wife," and this must mean she's a lesbian. Memo to non-millenials: "wife" is commonly used to refer to a best friend among "young people." On a more low rent note, some young women refer to their best friend as "my bitch. " Neither one is literal, obviously. Now you know.

Time for a random BLAST FROM THE PAST…I got a Submission from someone who requested to remain Anon asking if I had old screencaps of Sam and Amy Shiels interacting showing that they were more than friends. Welllll…of course I do. ;-).

I know recently Amy Tweeted that Sam had not been her boyfriend, in response to an article stating that he had been. Extreme Shippers were quick to scream “That proves Purv was wrong when she said Amy dated Sam!” No, oh frothy ones, all I ever said was that Amy and Sam definitely had a thing, which I still maintain they did. So maybe Sam wasn’t her official boyfriend, but they were definitely MORE than friends. I know this via my original industry source, who was in NY during the Outlander Season 1 premiere end of July 2014 and confirmed Sam and Amy were there together together.  AND 2. Exhibits 1-8 Above. Those are just a few examples showing Sam and Amy behaving as more than friends, I have more but couldn’t fit them all in one post. 

So, let me walk you through them just for shits and giggles, since I’m sure we could all use a smile, and it’s fun to reminisce about when the fandom was young and naïve. I mean NO disrespect and this is just for fun.

1 & 2 The infamous Poolgate. For those who weren’t around then…Poolgate happened when Outlander Season 1 wrapped and Sam went to Los Angeles. The whole fandom thought Sam and Cait were probably dating, including me, until a little video came out of Sam frolicking in the pool with someone who was not Cait, even though Cait had gone back to LA. too. We all collectively gasped and wondered “WHO is that little blonde?” Amy immediately gained thousands of followers on Twitter and we all started watching her every Tweet. Since I was shipper back then, I joined in and talked smack about her. I have since apologized and am very sorry I behaved that way. That’s why when shippers act like I’m some mean NST who thinks all shippers are horrible, I always stress that I get where they’re coming from, I’ve been there, but eventually we all have to put on our big girl panties and not ignore reality when it’s staring us straight in the face. Anyway, a lot of people jumped ship after poolgate. The silver lining…wet, topless, sunglassed, golden god, strong wet, wet, wet Sam. 😎💪🏊

3. A Tweet from Sam’s old Twitter account showing Amy an apartment listing in L.A. that they could share. “Two sharing?” isn’t exactly what you say when you are sharing an apartment with a house full of platonic friends. 

4. Amy’s signature look used to be short shorts with hot pink pumps…and we know why, because according to her, her legs were “catnip” for Sam. Verra flirty.

5. Amy RTing a fan giving her and Sam their couple celebrity name “Samy,” and also Amy’s response to a fan asking her how she felt that Sam didn’t acknowledge her publicly.

6. If another guy Tweeted “outside your window. Right. Now…” it would be creepy, but coming from Sam it’s all kinds of HOT. Stalker peeping Sam for the win!

7. Amy telling Sam she’s excitedly waiting to see him, calling him “Baby,” and sending him kisses.

8. Sam and Amy at a charity animal event looking cozy and Amy posting with the hashtag #love

So, hey, if Amy wants to deny that Sam was her boyfriend, that’s on her, but no one can deny the screencaps above signaling there was at least a FWB relationship.

I posted this because I was asked and because it was actually fun to go back through old screencaps and reminisce, but I mean NO disrespect to Sam’s current relationship with Mackenzie, or to Amy for that matter. I FULLY support anything and anyone that makes Sam happy, past or present. 

Life Saver Pool Fence of Central Florida installed in Lake Nona, Orlando FL.

With a 2 year old and another on the way, these parents knew it was time to have a POOL FENCE installed. We added a Self Closing Gate for easy access.