How Mark Wright rose from the ashes after club firebombing & ‘Towie Godfather’ dad’s links to violent Essex gangsters
FIREBOMBS, run-ins with police and bar brawls, TV star Mark Wright’s life could have turned out very differently.
His family’s past links to violent crime lords wouldn’t have been out of place in a gangster film set in the heart of the Essex underworld.
But just like in a movie, Mark did get his happy ending – he met actress Michelle Keegan and made millions ditching his dark roots.
He befriended the world’s hottest stars, chasing fame and fortune across the world.
His present life is a far cry from how ambitious Mark grew up – and indeed how his dad Mark Wright Snr lived before the family found fame.
Mark Snr is without a doubt the lynch pin of the Wright family, which has spawned a very famous family tree, and over the years he’s stepped more and more into the limelight.
Big Mark Wright, as he’s known, initially stayed in the shadows as Mark enjoyed a meteoric rise.
‘Towie Godfather’
In the early days, the ITV website described likeable Wright Snr as ‘a man’s man’ and the ‘Towie Godfather’, adding: “Mess with him and you’d face a world of pain.”
But shortly after Mark made his telly debut, it was revealed that dad Mark was mates with feared Essex crime lord David Hunt – and that they had been close for over 25 years.
Hunt’s older brother Stephen was also partners with Wright Snr in the 1990s at a Romford car dealership.
Back in 2013, Hunt was exposed in the High Court as a ruthless underworld boss involved in “fraud, money laundering and extreme violence”.
There is no suggestion that Wright Snr was involved in or had any idea of the nature of Hunt’s criminal network.
Speaking about their friendship in the past, Mark Snr said: “I have known Stephen Hunt for 30 years and David Hunt for 25 years.
“I probably speak to Stephen once or twice a month on the phone as friends would do.
“Yes, we had a car business together in the 1990s. We had a decent car firm.”
The connection between the Wrights and the Hunts didn’t go unnoticed while Mark was on the show.
Towie producers regularly used Hunt’s Woolston Manor Golf & Country Club as a backdrop for several scenes.
Hunt bought the Chigwell venue — founded by England footie legend Bobby Moore and 007 star Sean Connery in the 70s — from convicted fraudster Peter Pomfret in 1996 when it was called the Epping Forest Country Club.
But Mark’s links to the Essex gangland boss are not his only brush with the criminal underworld.
Club attack
Once Mark hit the big time, he ran a club with Jade Goody’s widow Jack Tweed.
On its opening night in 2010, the venue – Deuces – was firebombed shortly after the Towie gang had finished filming there.
Just a few months later it was firebombed again leaving Mark, who put all his savings into the venue, heartbroken.
The trouble didn’t end there though and days after the fire Mark denied a man access to the bar after he heard he had been bad-mouthing pal Jack.
A fight broke out and Mark was arrested in the early hours of the morning for affray.
He later admitted in court that he “saw red” when the man threatened to come back and throw a brick through their window.
He said in court: “The bar has been tarnished three times now. I just wanted to know why he said it.
“He said something really aggressive. He said, ‘I will knock you spark out.’
“I felt he was going to attack me. His hands were up and coming towards me. I wanted to protect myself.”
He admitted there was a tussle but couldn’t remember if any punches were thrown.
Mark wept into his hands as he was found not guilty, but Jack admitted common assault in relation to an attack on the man that night.
Jack was given an 18-month supervision order.
Dream life rocked
These days 38-year-old is living the dream – and he’s forged a life of true luxury with Michelle.
There’s his flashy career, newborn daughter and of course their £3.5m mega mansion, which is enough to make even the biggest A-Lister green with envy.
But not long after moving Mark and Michelle, who was heavily pregnant at the time, were forced to lock themselves in a bedroom when four masked raiders broke into their mansion.
It was understood four suspects were inside the £3.5million property for around a minute but left when they heard Mark yelling.
Police were also alerted via the state-of-the-art security system, and arrived at the couple’s Essex mansion within minutes.
By then the gang, said to be wearing balaclavas and all dressed in black, had fled empty-handed in a getaway car.
Inside Mark Wright and Danny Dyer’s bitter decade-long war
Their bitter feud erupted over a decade ago, when movie hardman Danny, the Dyers’ patriarch, bad-mouthed former The Only Way Is Essex star Mark Wright, the family’s poster boy, during a 2013 interview while noting his utter disgust at once being mistaken for him and mocking his rival’s lofty acting ambitions.
Years later, during a charity football match, the fallout turned physical after Mark slapped Danny in a changing room.
The ugly altercation was made public by Mark’s brother Josh, who reacted to Danny having a fresh pop at the ex-Towie star.
Danny then informed his followers that the slap happened at a “charity football match for terminally ill children” and accused Mark of hiding behind his dad after the slap.
But animosity between the pair really blew up in the battlegrounds of Chelmsford, at the 2016 V Festival, when the former EastEnders’ favourite was attacked by five of Mark’s pals in front of his daughter Dani, who was just 20 at the time, shocking fellow revellers swigging free booze in the event’s notious Louder Lounge VIP section.
Danny was enjoying his joint stag and hen do ahead of his wedding to wife Jo, 48, and was left with a nasty black eye. Mark was in the toilet at the time.
Family drama
Meanwhile, it wasn’t just Mark who had bad luck with fires and bars – his cousin Elliott, who has also appeared on Towie, was left devastated when his Marbella restaurant was destroyed by arsonists.
Elliott confirmed the cause of the fire at Olivia’s La Cala was arson and said police were investigating.
At the time Mark hit out at the people behind it writing: “Why just why I ask myself, in a world that is so cruel anyway by nature right now, why can’t we all Rally together?? Life is so short. Why would you do this to someone.
“I’ve had long phone calls with my cousin regarding his excitement/need for the restaurant to reopen soon and just before it possibly does, somebody does, he gets this.
“Elliott is broken enough after losing his beloved dad!! I pray for the day humanity is kind and United but I think the reality is, with the way the world is right now…. I can’t see my prayers being answered anytime soon. Such a shame.”
But Elliott, like the rest of the family, proved to be resilient and literally rose from the ashes.
In recent years the family have well and truly shed the murky history around them – and nothing is testament to that more than Mark’s glossy new life.
Mark Wright's career timeline
Since rising to fame over a decade ago as a reality TV star, popular personality Mark Wright has gone on to enjoy a successful career.
- The Only Way is Essex (2010-2011, regular): Mark was an original Towie cast member from its October 2010 launch and spanning series 1-3. He left the programme in 2011 but has returned for a handful of cameos.
- I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here (2011): After leaving Towie, Mark signed up for the famed ITV jungle. He finished in second place behind McFly star Dougie Poynter.
- Heart (2012-2017; 2019 – present): Mark first joined radio station Heart in 2012, leaving five years later to pursue work in the United States. He made a return to the station in July 2019.
- Strictly Come Dancing (2014): The star took to the Strictly ballroom in 2014, finishing fourth behind Caroline Flack, Simon Webbe and Frankie Bridge.
- The Dengineers (2015-2017): Mark was a co-presenter of the children’s programme for its first two series. After his departure, later hosts have included Joe Swash and Meryl Fernandes.
- Extra (2017-2020): Mark was an entertainment reporter for this US outlet for three years.
- The Bachelor UK (2019): A revived UK iteration of the popular American dating show. Mark’s version of the programme aired on Channel 5.
- The Challenge UK (2023): Another UK rendition of an American format, this aired on Channel 5 in February 2023.
- Clean It, Fix It (2024 – present): Mark has joined the popular BBC daytime show from its fourth series onwards.