Chef and aspiring actor Emilio Vitolo Jr., 33, sent the break-up text to designer Rachel Emmons, 24, on the same day as photos were first published of him cozying up to Holmes on a date, DailyMail.com said.

He ended their 18-month engagement without mentioning his new fling, a friend told the site.

“Up to this press coming out, Rachel had no idea what was going on,” one of Emmons’ friends told the site.

“He is a cheater, and this isn’t a ‘happy ending’ story,” she said of Vitolo, who works at his family’s Nolita restaurant, celeb-favorite Emilio’s Ballato.

“They had concrete wedding plans in the works … now she is just left with bad press and forced to move home,” the friend told the outlet.

A friend also told The Sun that Emmons was “blindsided” when Vitolo sent the break-up text — and only learned about Holmes when friends sent her articles about the 41-year-old actress’s new romance.

“She thinks it’s disrespectful for it to be so public,” the friend told the UK paper, saying she also finds it all “bizarre and disappointing.”

“Rachel feels Emilio could have been more honest and dealt with it like a gentleman and face-to-face,” the friend said.

As for Holmes, the friend noted, “Nobody really knows if Katie was aware he was with Rachel. If she did, it’s a bad example to set for her daughter.”

Emmons was still wearing her engagement ring in her last photo of herself on Instagram in late July. Her page was full of photos of the pair in happier times.

“Favorite person I’ve ever met,” she wrote alongside one photo of them kissing, while in another she wrote, “You are my favorite part of life & I will love you forever.”

Katie Holmes and Emilio Vitolo Jr.

Ericka Draves/BACKGRID

Instagram

Instagram

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Vitolo is thought to have deleted all the photos of them together from his Instagram page the day after they broke up, The Sun said.

DailyMail.com said Emmons declined to comment.