''Essex Wives'' was a television documentary series about married women socialising together in

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

, England. It ran for a single series in 2002 and launched the career of

Jodie Marsh Jodie Louise Marsh is an English media personality, model and bodybuilder. She has appeared on numerous reality television shows, such as ''Essex Wives'' (2002), Back to Reality (TV series), ''Back to Reality'' (2004), ''Love on a Saturday Night ...

Format

The

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

programme featured the daily lives of a number of women, including

, which led to her subsequent career. The show used the nickname ''golden triangle'' to describe the settlements of

Chigwell Chigwell is a town and civil parish in the Epping Forest District of Essex, England. It is part of the urban and metropolitan area of London, and is adjacent to the northern boundary of Greater London. It is on the Central line of the London U ...

Buckhurst Hill Buckhurst Hill is an affluent suburban town in the Epping Forest District, Epping Forest district of Essex, England. It is part of the Greater London Urban Area and adjacent to the northern boundary of the London Borough of Redbridge. The area de ...

and

Loughton Loughton () is a town and civil parish in the Epping Forest District of Essex. Part of the metropolitan and urban area of London, the town borders Chingford, Waltham Abbey, Theydon Bois, Chigwell and Buckhurst Hill, and is northeast of Chari ...

in the

Epping Forest district Epping Forest is a local government district in Essex, England. Situated in the west of the county, bordering northeastern Greater London, it is named after, and contains a large part of, Epping Forest. The district, though wholly within the cou ...

upon which the series was centered. The area is well known for its high property prices and relative affluence of its residents compared to the national average. Several properties are owned by professional footballers; their spouses, as well as others of a similar stature, have been referred to as

WAGs WAGs (or Wags) is an acronym used to refer to wives and girlfriends of high-profile sportsmen. The term may also be used in the singular form, WAG, to refer to a specific female partner or life partner who is in a relationship with an athlete. Th ...

by the

tabloid press Tabloid journalism is a popular style of largely sensationalism, sensationalist journalism (usually dramatized and sometimes unverifiable or even Fake news, blatantly false), which takes its name from the Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid ne ...

. They are relatively rich, but do not work regularly and chose to spend most of the day socialising instead. The programme featured stereotypical activities of these women, such as visiting

Jacuzzi Jacuzzi Brands LLC (; ), through its subsidiaries, is a global manufacturer and distributor of branded baths, hot tubs, pools, saunas and, formerly, aircraft. Founded in 1915 by the Italian family of the same name, Jacuzzi is a federally regist ...

nail bar A nail salon or nail bar is a specialty beauty salon establishment that primarily offers nail care services such as manicures, pedicures, and nail enhancements. Often, nail salons also offer skin care services. Manicures are also offered by gene ...

s, tanning, shopping at

Prada Prada S.p.A. (, ; ) is an Italian luxury fashion house founded in 1913 in Milan by Mario Prada. It specializes in leather handbags, travel accessories, shoes, ready-to-wear, and other fashion accessories. Prada licenses its name and branding t ...

or performing

yoga Yoga (; sa, योग, lit=yoke' or 'union ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India and aim to control (yoke) and still the mind, recognizing a detached witness-consciou ...

. It was criticised for giving an inaccurate portrayal of Essex life; towns elsewhere in the county such as

Halstead Halstead is a town and civil parish in the Braintree District of Essex, England. Its population of 11,906 in 2011 Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian. Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colches ...

or natural features such as the

Colne Valley The Colne Valley is a steep sided valley on the east flank of the Pennine Hills in the English county of West Yorkshire. It takes its name from the River Colne which rises above the town of Marsden and flows eastward towards Huddersfield. ...

do not generally exhibit the behaviour seen on ''Essex Wives'', including "white stilettos, shiny leatherette handbags or ankle chains". The series pointed out that Chigwell has ten beauty salons and four nail bars, and said that some of the wives had decided to seek modelling jobs for their young children.

References

{{reflist, 33em 2000s British reality television series 2002 British television series debuts 2002 British television series endings Epping Forest District ITV (TV network) original programming