I don't think they were ever really friends with the Sacconejolys. It was to boost both their platforms as probably instructed by gleam. As soon as the sacconejolys started having scandals, Zoe and Alfie disassociated.
I think Gleam definitely promotes mingling and collabs with all the people they manage, but with Zoe and the Sacconejolys it was different Zoe was OBSESSED with this family for 2 years before they moved to England, she talked about them in videos, Twitter, and on her blog, she had even said their videos got her through her brake up with Wilf, I think she thought they were actually friends, and Jonathan saw her as a way to grow their channel, Anna saw her as another women she had to compete with because she was so thin and pretty, and that’s not something Anna can handle in her “friends”.