Mark Charles Edward Wright (born 20 January 1987) is an English television personality, football pundit,

entertainment reporter Entertainment journalism is any form of journalism that focuses on popular culture and the entertainment business and its products. Like fashion journalism, entertainment journalism covers industry-specific news while targeting general audiences bey ...

, and professional footballer who last played for side

Crawley Town Crawley Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crawley, West Sussex, England. The club was founded as Crawley Football Club in 1896, changed its name to Crawley Town Football Club in 1958. The team co ...

. He is best known for appearing as a cast member on the first three series of ''

The Only Way Is Essex ''The Only Way Is Essex'' (often abbreviated as ''TOWIE'' ) is a British reality television series based in Brentwood, Essex, England. It shows "real people in modified situations, saying unscripted lines but in a structured way." Originally b ...

.'' Wright gained more popularity after appearing on the eleventh series of '' I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!'' where he finished as runner-up, and the twelfth series of ''

Strictly Come Dancing ''Strictly Come Dancing'' (informally known as ''Strictly'') is a British dance contest show in which celebrities partner with professional dancers to compete in mainly ballroom and Latin dance. Each couple is scored by a panel of usually 4 ...

'', where he finished in fourth place. He is also a current presenter on

Heart The heart is a muscular organ in most animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels of the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrients to the body, while carrying metabolic waste such as carbon dioxide t ...

's Saturday afternoon slot.

Career

Football

Before his appearances on ''The Only Way Is Essex'', Wright was a semi-professional footballer, with a youth career at

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

, and

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

. He started his senior career with

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of English football. Southend are known as ...

, but moved into nightclub promoting and playing only semi-professionally. In November 2006, he was loaned from

Grays Athletic Grays Athletic Football Club is a football club based in Grays, Essex, England. They are currently members of the and play at Parkside in nearby Aveley. History The club was established as Grays Juniors in 1890, before merging with former S ...

to fellow

Conference National The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-profes ...

side

. On 27 January 2007, he scored the only goal of a 1–0 win at Tamworth. In March that year, he was lent to

Rushden & Diamonds Rushden & Diamonds Football Club was an association football club based in Irthlingborough, Northamptonshire, England. Nicknamed "The Diamonds", the club played at Nene Park. The club's main rivals were county neighbours Kettering Town. The cl ...

for the rest of the season. Wright played once for the

England national football C team The England national football C team (previously known as the England National Game XI and the England Semi-Pro national team) is the football team that represents England at non-league level. Formed in 1979 as the England Non-League team, it fe ...

, playing in a defeat to Bosnia and Herzegovina B on 16 September 2008. In January 2012, it was reported that he rekindled his semi-professional footballing career, by signing for St Neots Town, but this was denied by Wright on his Twitter account. Wright made his return to professional football on 14 December 2020, signing for

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

side

on a non-contract basis. He made his professional debut at the age of 33 in the third round of the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

, coming on as a 90th minute substitute as Crawley won 3–0 against

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

side

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road S ...

on 10 January 2021. His brother,

Josh Josh is a masculine given name, frequently a diminutive (hypocorism) of the given names Joshua or Joseph, though since the 1970s, it has increasingly become a full name on its own. It may refer to: People A–J * "Josh", an early pseudonym of S ...

, also played in the match, having signed for Crawley in January 2021. Wright made his first professional start in League Two against

Harrogate Town Harrogate Town A.F.C. is a professional association football club in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England, which competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club is nicknamed the Sulphurites, due to the ...

on 6 February, and was substituted at half time in a 3–1 home loss. He was released by Crawley at the end of the 2020–21 season.

Television

In October 2010, Wright was one of the original cast members in 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 ...

reality programme ''

The Only Way is Essex ''The Only Way Is Essex'' (often abbreviated as ''TOWIE'' ) is a British reality television series based in Brentwood, Essex, England. It shows "real people in modified situations, saying unscripted lines but in a structured way." Originally b ...

''. He announced his departure from the show on 23 October 2011, near the end of the third series. He later returned for a cameo appearance in the sixth series and also, for the 2012 Christmas special. He briefly returned again in 2014 and again in 2016. In November 2011, Wright took part in the eleventh series of '' I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!''. He was the runner-up, losing to

McFly McFly are an English pop rock band formed in London in 2003. The band took their name from the '' Back to the Future'' character Marty McFly. The band consists of Tom Fletcher (lead vocals, guitar, and piano), Danny Jones (lead vocals, har ...

bassist

Dougie Poynter Dougie Lee Poynter (born 30 November 1987) is an English musician, songwriter, fashion model, aspiring clothing designer, children's author and actor. He is the bassist of the pop rock band McFly. Biography Early life Poynter was born in Orset ...

. From January 2012 until 2017, Wright and Laura Jackson co-presented the '' Take Me Out'' spin-off programme '' Take Me Out: The Gossip'' for

ITV2 ITV2 is a British free-to-air television channel owned by ITV Digital Channels, a division of ITV plc. It was launched on 7 December 1998. For a number of years, it had the largest audience share after the five analogue terrestrial stations, a ...

Zoe Hardman Zoe Kristi Hardman (born 16 November 1982) is a British television presenter and actress. She first appeared on TV in Channel 4's reality game show ''Playing It Straight'' in 2005. Career Hardman was born in Kent, England. She was a presenter ...

previously hosted with Wright. The series did not air in 2018. He also appeared as a fitness expert on the

ITV Breakfast ITV Breakfast Broadcasting Limited (previously known as GMTV Limited) is the national ITV breakfast television licensee, broadcasting in the United Kingdom. It became a wholly owned subsidiary of ITV plc in November 2009. The breakfast license r ...

programme '' Daybreak'' for two weeks, to front its mini series ''Downsize in Dubai''. From 20 June to 7 July 2012, Wright presented and starred in a new

show, titled '' Mark Wright's Hollywood Nights''. It was later dropped after one series. He was due to co-present with

Melanie Sykes Melanie Ann Sykes (born 7 August 1970) is an English television and radio presenter. She is best known for co-hosting ''Today with Des and Mel'' with Des O'Connor and '' Let's Do Lunch'' with Gino D'Acampo. She also co-hosted ''Going Out with Al ...

on a new entertainment series named ''My Man Can''. After filming one series,

made the decision not to air the show. Since 2013, Wright was a reporter on the

series '' Surprise Surprise''. In 2014, Wright fronted his own

reality show entitled ''Party Wright Around The World''. In 2014, Wright was one of the celebrities competing in the twelfth series of ''

''. He was paired up with professional dancer

Karen Hauer Karen Hauer Wyn-Jones (formerly Clifton; born 20 April 1982) is a Venezuelan-American professional Latin dance specialist and World Mambo Champion, best known for her appearances on the British television series ''Strictly Come Dancing.'' She is ...

. The couple made into the final in which they came fourth. Wright also presented ''

The Dengineers ''The Dengineers'' is a British children's television series which airs on CBBC and sees the production team (styled as 'dengineers') design themed dens or play houses for children. There have been seven series aired to date, with the most rec ...

'' with

Lauren Layfield Lauren Layfield (born on 1 December 1987) is an English television and radio presenter and journalist who works mainly for CBBC and Capital FM. Career Layfield joined CBBC continuity in September 2015, at the end of the one-off TV special '' ...

CBBC CBBC (initialised as Children's BBC and also known as the CBBC Channel) is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the bran ...

from 2015 until 2017. He left at the end of the second series and was replaced by

Joe Tracini Joe Tracini (born Joe James Pasquale; 19 July 1988) is an English actor, presenter and author. He appeared in the role of Dennis Savage in the Channel 4 soap opera ''Hollyoaks''. His previous TV acting credits have included the BBC Three comedy s ...

. In December 2016, Wright made an appearance on an episode of E!'s ''The Royals'' (season 3, episode 1). Wright presented on the

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

entertainment news programme ''

EXTRA Extra or Xtra may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Film * ''The Extra'' (1962 film), a Mexican film * ''The Extra'' (2005 film), an Australian film Literature * ''Extra'' (newspaper), a Brazilian newspaper * ''Extra!'', an American me ...

'' by

Warner Bros Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Di ...

from 2017 to 2020. Wright presents series 6 of Channel 5's '' The Bachelor'', based on the US television show of the same name. On 5 July 2019, Wright guest presented '' This Morning'' with

Rochelle Humes Rochelle Eulah Eileen Humes (née Wiseman; born 21 March 1989) is an English singer and television presenter. Humes began her career in British pop groups S Club Juniors and The Saturdays, and has gone on to co-present the ITV entertainment se ...

. Wright starred in the BBC programme '' Who Do You Think You Are?'' in September 2019. In January 2021, Wright featured in a BBC iPlayer mini-series, ''Mark Wright: The Last Chance'', about his efforts to revive his professional football career with Crawley Town.

Radio

Since 24 December 2012, Wright has presented the "Club Classics" show every Friday and Saturday evening on

Heart Radio Heart is a British radio network and brand of 13 adult contemporary local stations operated by Global throughout the United Kingdom, broadcasting a mix of local and networked programming. Ten of the Heart stations are owned by Global, while th ...

, between 7pm and 9pm. He left in December 2017 when he moved to the United States, and returned to the station in July 2019. In March 2020, after the defection of

Sian Welby Sian or Siyan may refer to: __NOTOC__ People *Siân, a Welsh girl's name; list of people with this name Places *Sian, Iran (disambiguation), various places in Iran *Sian, Russia, a rural locality in Amur Oblast, Russia *Xi'an, China, formerly roman ...

to Capital FM, he took up the Monday to Thursday evening slot at the station. In December 2021, he left the Monday-Thursday evening slot with

Dev Griffin Devin Joseph Jordan Griffin (born 23 December 1984) is a British radio presenter, DJ and actor, who is most commonly known for his former weekend afternoon shows on BBC Radio 1. Since 2 January 2021, he has presented a weekend show on Heart. ...

taking over at the start of the new year. He now presents the Saturday early evening show from 4-7pm.

Other work

In June 2013, Wright was signed by online retail giant,

Littlewoods Littlewoods was a retail and football betting company founded in Liverpool, England, by John Moores in 1923. By the 1980s, it had grown to become the largest private company in Europe, but subsequently declined in the face of increased com ...

, as its new face of menswear, which sees him style and model a capsule collection each season for Littlewoods' own-brand menswear line, ''Goodsouls''. In September 2018 he was signed by

Matalan Matalan is a British fashion and homeware retailer based in Knowsley, Merseyside. It was established by John Hargreaves in 1985, and is still owned by the Hargreaves family. , the company employed over 13,000, and had 230 stores in the United K ...

as the face of their menswear range. In June 2016, he took part in ''

Soccer Aid ''Soccer Aid'' is a British annual (formerly bi-ennial) charity event that has raised over £38 million in aid of UNICEF UK, through ticket sales and donations from the public. The televised event is a friendly-style football match between t ...

'' for the first time. He played for 'England'. He scored a goal from a direct free kick in the 3–2 victory, and was named Man of the Match. Wright also played in the 2018 and 2019 editions of ''

''.

Personal life

Mark is the son of Carol and Mark Wright, Sr, and the brother of fellow professional footballer

Josh Wright Joshua William Wright (born 6 November 1989) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for National League side Ebbsfleet United. Wright played for Gillingham between 2015 and 2017, Millwall from 2011 to 2015 and Scunt ...

, whom he played alongside at Crawley Town, and fellow ''The Only Way is Essex'' cast member

Jess Wright Jessica Sophia Wright (born 14 September 1985) is an English television personality. From 2010 to 2016, she appeared in the ITVBe reality series ''The Only Way Is Essex''. She also appeared on the film ''Rise of the Footsoldier 4: Marbella'' (20 ...

. He has a younger sister. On 22 February 2009, Wright was

best man A groomsman or usher is one of the male attendants to the groom in a wedding ceremony and performs the first speech at the wedding. Usually, the groom selects close friends and relatives to serve as groomsmen, and it is considered an honor to be ...

at the wedding of the reality star

Jade Goody Jade Cerisa Lorraine Goody (5 June 1981 – 22 March 2009) was an English television personality. She came to public prominence in 2002 when she appeared on the third series of the Channel 4 reality show '' Big Brother''. She went on to s ...

and

Jack Tweed ''Celebrity Big Brother 2007'', also known as ''Celebrity Big Brother 5'', was the fifth series of the British reality television series ''Celebrity Big Brother''. The show followed a total of fourteen celebrity contestants, known as housemates ...

, as he was a childhood friend of the groom. Footage of the ceremony was shown in the

Sky Living Sky Living was a British pay television channel owned and operated by Sky. The channel's programming was aimed mainly at women and young adults. It originally launched as UK Living in 1993 and closed 25 years later, being replaced by Sky Witness. ...

series ''Jade: The Reality Star Who Changed Britain'' in 2019. In August 2011, Wright appeared at Redbridge Magistrates' Court charged with using threatening behaviour on a night out. He was found not guilty, while Tweed pleaded guilty to common assault. Wright was in a relationship with fellow ''TOWIE'' cast member

Lauren Goodger Lauren Rose Goodger (born 19 September 1986) is an English television personality, glamour model, media personality and columnist. She starred in the ITVBe reality show ''The Only Way Is Essex'' from 2010 until 2012, debuting in the first serie ...

. Since December 2012, Wright has been in a relationship with former ''

Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' is an English soap opera created by Granada Television and shown on ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres around a cobbled, terraced street in Weatherfield, a fictional town based on inner-city Salford. Origi ...

'' actress

Michelle Keegan Michelle Elizabeth Keegan (born 3 June 1987) is an English actress, known for her roles as Tina McIntyre in the ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'' and Sergeant Georgie Lane in the BBC drama series ''Our Girl''. Keegan also starred as Tracy S ...

. They married on 24 May 2015. In December 2021, Wright underwent an operation to remove a 12 cm tumour. According to '' Who Do You Think You Are?'', Mark's great-great-grandfather was of Jewish heritage, and his nine-times great grandfather, David Antonio de Mendoza, was a ''

converso A ''converso'' (; ; feminine form ''conversa''), "convert", () was a Jew who converted to Catholicism in Spain or Portugal, particularly during the 14th and 15th centuries, or one of his or her descendants. To safeguard the Old Christian po ...

'' of

Sephardic Jewish Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), pt, Judeus sefar ...

descent who was arrested by the

Spanish Inquisition The Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition ( es, Tribunal del Santo Oficio de la Inquisición), commonly known as the Spanish Inquisition ( es, Inquisición española), was established in 1478 by the Catholic Monarchs, King Ferdinand ...

in 1696 accused of secretly practising his ancestors' religion. David, who was 36 at the time, was tortured for two years in

Seville Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...

using methods including the

toca TOCA, formally trading as BARC (TOCA) Ltd, is an organiser of motorsport events in the United Kingdom. The company organises and administers the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) and the support series to the BTCC, sometimes known as the T ...

. Once out of prison, David moved his family to Amsterdam where it was safe to practise their faith. His nephew Miguel, however, returned to Spain and was burned at the stake.

Politics

Wright is a supporter of the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

and had previously called for people to support then-Prime Minister

Theresa May Theresa Mary May, Lady May (; née Brasier; born 1 October 1956) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2016 to 2019. She previously served in David Cameron's cab ...

, plus endorsing Shaun Bailey for the 2021 London Mayoral election.Who Do You Think You Are?
on BBC website

Career statistics

Filmography

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, Mark 1987 births Living people People from Buckhurst Hill Sportspeople from Essex People from Brentwood, Essex English male television actors English male models English television personalities English footballers England semi-pro international footballers National League (English football) players Isthmian League players Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players Southend United F.C. players Lewes F.C. players Grays Athletic F.C. players Crawley Town F.C. players Rushden & Diamonds F.C. players St Albans City F.C. players Bishop's Stortford F.C. players Fisher Athletic F.C. players Thurrock F.C. players Heart (radio network) Television personalities from Essex Heybridge Swifts F.C. players Association football defenders Entertainment journalists English people of Spanish-Jewish descent I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! (British TV series) participants English Football League players

Career

Football

Television

Radio

Other work

Personal life

Politics

Career statistics

Filmography

See also

References

External links