Mark Wright reveals he initially disliked being on The Only Way Is Essex and wanted to leave

Mark Wright has revealed he ‘hated his life’ after first seeing himself on The Only Way Is Essex in 2010 and was keen to leave the show quickly. 

The footballer and TV star, 34, admitted he wanted to further his career elsewhere, calling himself a ‘bit of a donut’ on the reality series. 

Speaking on The Harry Redknapp Show, Mark said he needed a couple of days to figure out what he want to do after the show launched.

He said: ‘I watched it back and I hated my life, because I’ve come from football, East End family, and then it was half of the kind of crew going “shut up!” and all this, and I’m watching me being part of it.

‘By the way I’m not ashamed of it. I absolutely loved it, but the first episode I watched I was like “what have I done?”

‘I needed a couple of days to figure out what I want to do. Then once I relaxed and realised what it was, and it was a bit of tongue in cheek and a bit of fun, it kind of blew up from there.’ 

Mark wanted to turn his stint on the show ‘into something bigger’ and wanted to get the opportunity to show a different side to himself.  

He said: ‘Straight away I said in my head, right, how am I going to turn this into something bigger and I knew I needed to leave quickly and do the jungle to show the real me, because I was a bit of a donut on that show, I wanted to just go straight into TV presenting. And that’s kind of what I did you know.’ 

He starred in the first three series of the ITVBe show in 2010 and 2011 before branching out to join the I’m A Celebrity cast in 2012 where he came second. 

Mark’s appearance on the show largely saw his toxic relationship with ex fiancée Lauren Goodger play out, as well as his close friendship with James Argent.  

The star recently admitted finding fame on reality TV comes with a ‘stigma’ as people think you have ‘no talents’. 

Speaking to Radio Times about signing with association football club Crawley Town, Mark said living life in front of the cameras was not as easy as it looked.  

He said: ‘Starting out on a reality TV show does come with a stigma. The minute somebody does one, they apparently have no talents. But I beg to differ. It’s not easy to have a camera put in your face and be expected to be entertaining or likeable.’

Mark added that he loves it when people ‘doubt’ him and one of the reasons he previously moved to Los Angeles to become a TV host with Extra was because people told him not to risk what he already had.  

Describing himself as a ‘winner’, Mark said being underestimated is like a ‘shot of adrenaline’ for him. 

The footballer said he and wife Michelle Keegan are both supportive of each other’s ambitions, even if it means they have to be apart due to their busy careers. 

The Crawley Town Football Club player is currently isolating at home after eleven of his teammates tested positive for coronavirus.

He made his debut for the club earlier this month, is following government guidelines after the football team were plunged into crisis. 

Mark spent his 34th birthday in quarantine on Wednesday as restrictions meant he was unable to leave his home for any reason.