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Mark Wright's poisonous family rivalry is causing havoc in Essex, insiders tell Kate Hind, as the reality star's ruthless behaviour is exposed By KATIE HIND CONSULTANT EDITOR SHOWBUSINESS Published: 07:59 EDT, 17 March 2025 | Updated: 08:01 EDT, 17 March 2025 e-mail View comments It was at the launch of ITV ’s pioneering new reality show The Only Way is Essex in 2010 that the sibling rivalry between Mark and Jess Wright was impossible to miss. Back then, Mark was best known as the best friend of Jade Goody ’s widower, Jack Tweed , while his sister was in a pop band and very desperate to make it as a singer. Jess, just 15 months older than Mark, was already acting like quite the star on the set of the show.
Her brother, meanwhile, was rather more apprehensive about how he would come across on television. And while it was Jess and her fledgling pop career that TOWIE bosses were then keen to push into the limelight, in the end it was Mark – handsome and cheeky – who fast became compulsive viewing for its audience of around one million. That he was engaged in a rocky romance with his on-off girlfriend, Lauren Goodger , was all part of his charm.
Inevitably, it wasn’t long before Mark eclipsed his sister. And within four years, he was handed the golden ticket to more mainstream success – a spot on BBC dance show Strictly. It was at the launch of ITV ’s pioneering new reality show The Only Way is Essex in 2010 that the sibling rivalry between Mark and Jess Wright was impossible to miss, writes KATIE HIND Jess Wright at the launch of her third Dorothy Perkins collection in 2022.
When TOWIE first aired, Jess and the show's bosses had ambitions to kickstart her pop career and pushed her into the limelight more than brother Mark It left Jess, now 39, fuming, especially as Mark and his partner Karen Hauer waltzed their way into the final – despite eventually finishing in fourth place. ‘Jess had been desperate to do it, but it was her brother that bosses wanted,’ says a source close to the family. ‘She was gutted but she supported him and hoped that, one day, she too would take to the Strictly dance floor.
’ More than a decade later Jess has still to realise her dream. But the rivalries within the Wright family extend far beyond just Mark and Jess alone. These days, friends say, the family behaves like it’s an Essex ‘dynasty’.
And like any big family with ideas of grandeur, there is a strict hierarchy and a lot of machinations. Some of the Wrights are more important than others; while some are less bothered about the fame and celebrity status that TOWIE has afforded them. ‘You get the impression the Wrights think they own Essex,’ said one former co-star of the siblings.
‘They literally think they rule it. Think of the programme Dynasty and you get the idea. ‘It’s all very flashy, it’s about looking beautiful and having the most money for them.
’ Another Wright family quirk which hardly pours cold water on this idea is that every man tends to name his son after himself – which means it perhaps came as a relief to Michelle Keegan , Mark’s wife of 10 years, that the couple recently had a daughter. Mark, 38, and actress Michelle, 37, became first time parents when she gave birth to Palma Elizabeth on March 6. Mark Wright with his wife Michelle Keegan.
The couple married at Hengrave Hall in 2015 and Michelle is apparently 'adored' by her husband's family On March 6 Michelle and Mark took to Instagram to confirm the birth of their baby daughter Palma The couple married in an opulent wedding at the five-star Hengrave Hall in Suffolk – with the rights to the pictures and an exclusive interview naturally granted to Hello! magazine. It was fitting as, by then, Mark was a bona fide celebrity, fresh from his Strictly success, with an even more famous girlfriend. She is said to be ‘adored’ by the Wrights who took her into their fold when she moved from Manchester to Essex in 2014.
‘But then she is very famous,’ one source close to the family points out. Those who know the family well say Mark ‘is very much in charge’ these days. But his namesake father, ‘Big Mark’, still pulls the strings too, and is said to enjoy the limelight.
His glamourous wife Carol is also in the top tier of the family. She joined TOWIE herself in 2011 and quickly became a standout star as she meddled in the love lives of her children. Those television appearances paid off and today, aged 63, she is one of Instagram’s most successful mumfluencers with over 200,000 followers thanks to her sexy swimsuit snaps.
‘Carol enjoys the limelight, rather,’ says a source familiar with the family. ‘Jess is the apple of her eye, they are bit of a clique, and at events will often keep themselves to themselves. Carol Wright, Jessica Wright, Mark Wright and Mark Wright Sr.
The family are said to behave like an Essex 'dynasty', with Mark Sr pulling the strings along with his son ‘At Mark and Michelle’s wedding when there was a meeting of the Wrights and the Keegans they were seen being rather frosty, like they were shy but they’re not.’ Indeed, life as a Wright is definitely more enjoyable for some than for others. As one source waspishly says: ‘If your name is Mark you boss it in the Wright family, if you’re one of the lesser-known cousins, you know your place.
’ Further down in the pecking order is 35-year-old Josh, Jess and Mark’s younger brother. He enjoyed success as a lower league footballer and apparently has little interest in being a show-off like his older siblings, though he did dip his toe into the limelight briefly by appearing in BBC show A Wright Family Holiday with his dad and brother two years ago. ‘Mark is the typical Essex boy while Josh is quite unassuming, modest and unpretentious,’ says a friend of the family.
‘He lives a totally different world to Mark and Jess. He is proud of them and what they have done but he doesn’t want to be part of the celebrity life – he never has and he never will. ‘He is absolutely adored by the wider Wright family.
He is a lovely boy. While he might not be so high up the hierarchy, he doesn’t really care.’ Coming up behind them all is the family’s youngest, Natalya, who is just 24 and is adored by her older siblings.
She was only 10 when TOWIE first started, but Carol has made no secret of her youngest offspring’s future as a starlet. Jess Wright holding son Presley alongside her mum Carol and youngest sibling Natalya, who has been described as a 'real sweetheart' and has already signed with a celebrity agent Jess pictured with cousins Elliot and Leah. The latter recently became an ambassador for domestic abuse charity Refuge Carol Wright with Nanny Pat, who became a TOWIE favourite and died after a short illness in 2015 aged 80 Described as a ‘real sweetheart’, some members of the Wright family are fearful that she might get caught up in the trappings of fame.
They might be too late, however – she has already signed with a celebrity agent. On the lower tiers are Mark’s cousins. The eldest is Little Eddie, whose father – Big Eddie, of course – died during the pandemic following an eight-week battle with covid.
I’m told he isn’t especially close to Mark and Jess and unlike them is ‘very quiet’. ‘Little Eddie keeps himself to himself and has no interest whatsoever in what his more famous cousins are up to. He doesn’t want that fame.
’ He is also way down the pecking order. He is close to his little sister Leah, 46. Described as ‘lovely and caring’ she also ‘gets on with her life away from Mark’.
Leah too appeared in TOWIE in 2011 in a more peripheral role, but left in 2015 to raise her three children. Leah recently became an ambassador for domestic abuse charity Refuge after bravely sharing her story of being a survivor of physical, financial and emotional abuse at the hands of her ex. Read More 'Donatella's been dethroned - by the men who can't wait to sell Versace' ‘Leah is so down to earth, says what she thinks but doesn’t get involved in the drama,’ a source says.
Her little brother Elliott is a different matter. He is far closer to Mark and therefore trumps his siblings in the pecking order. With two teenage children – one called Elliott, naturally, and a daughter, Olivia, who he named after the restaurant he owns on Spain’s Costa Del Sol – he is often described as ‘a big brother’ to Mark.
Elliott, who was also a mainstay in TOWIE, is definitely in the Wright A-list, but is said to be ‘lovable and generous’. He is also close to Mark’s best mate James ‘Arge’ Argent who regularly plays with his band at the Spanish restaurant. Then there are Mark’s other two cousins: Georgie – named after Mark’s uncle George – and his sister Alix.
Even the most ardent of TOWIE fans would have struggled to have heard of either of them. Georgie is relatively unknown but did appear on Mark’s ‘Hollywood Nights’ show back in 2012 which saw Mark and a group of mates fly out to LA on holiday. Georgie married Sophie Kane in May 2022.
The announced they were expecting their ‘little miracle’ back in November. Natalya is close to her cousin, and shared a picture of their nuptials. Georgie has also been on nights out with Mark and Elliott.
Alix hasn’t been in the limelight but her Instagram is full of posts from all the Wright family and is very much a part of their gatherings. A source said: ‘Georgie and Alix are quietly part of the family.’ Then there is the matriarch, Nanny Pat – Carol’s mum – who died in 2015 following a short illness aged 80.
Real name Pat Brooker, she became a favourite on TOWIE during her five-year run on the show thanks to her one-liners and sausage plaits. ‘She was such a legend,’ said the family insider. ‘She wasn’t a Wright by blood as she was Carol’s mum but she loved the family and they loved her back.
’ And by the sounds of it, not everyone close to the family has been quite so lucky. TOWIE Michelle Keegan Mark Wright Share or comment on this article: Mark Wright's poisonous family rivalry is causing havoc in Essex, insiders tell Kate Hind, as the reality star's ruthless behaviour is exposed e-mail Add comment Comments 0 Share what you think No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards.
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