‘I knew what the show needed to be popular’: Mark Wright admits he ‘played a character’ on TOWIE and ‘created drama’ with ex-girlfriends like Lauren Goodger
Mark Wright has admitted he ‘played a character’ when he was on TOWIE and ‘created drama’ with his ex-girlfriend Lauren Goodger.
The TV presenter, 35, who found fame on the ITV reality series, said he acted like a ‘playboy’ character while on the show in order to keep things interesting.
Speaking on the No Boundaries podcast with Aaron Mclean, Mark said: ‘I played a character on the show that was… it’s real life but also you dramatise your real life moments and I knew what this show needed to be popular – it needed drama.
Honest: Mark Wright has admitted he ‘played a character’ when he was on TOWIE and ‘created drama’ with his ex-girlfriend Lauren Goodger (pictured together in 2011)
‘The way you create drama is people being upset and arguing.
‘When I was there and I had a couple of girlfriends on the show, I had to create drama, so I was playing up to this playboy character, I was only young, I was a bit of a cheeky chappy, but I was playing up to it more and of course people don’t like that because you’re upsetting people and I was aware of that.’
Mark said he wanted his grandmother Nanny Pat to be on the show in order to help ‘humanise’ him.
He also wanted James ‘Arg’ Argent to be shown as his friend, rather than his other club promoter pals so that people could see he had a ‘nice side’.
Couple: The TV presenter, 35, who found fame on the ITV reality series, said he acted like a ‘playboy’ character while on the show in order to keep things interesting (pictured in 2010)
He said: ‘That’s why I said to them I want Nanny Pat to be on the show, because at least it would humanise me – it was a very clever move looking back.
‘And I wanted Arg to be my mate, I didn’t want my other kind of cheeky chap club promoter mates to be on it, I wanted him to humanise me and show I had a normal, nice side as well and that’s how I managed the balance.
‘So I had the people going ‘I can’t believe he’s just done that’ to the people going ‘How cute is Mark with his nan?’
‘And I had to balance that, but yeah it was hard to know that people were feeling that way about me when I weren’t that guy, and that’s why I left so quick.’
Mark was one of the original castmembers of TOWIE back in 2010 and left after series three.
Mark said: ‘When I was there and I had a couple of girlfriends on the show, I had to create drama, so I was playing up to this playboy character’ (pictured in 2011)
He later returned for a cameo in the sixth series and again in 2014 and 2016 and has since carved out a presenting career.
Mark and Lauren became engaged on TOWIE, after both starring since its inauguration in 2010, and were a couple for 11 years before suffering an extremely acrimonious break-up which has led to much mud-slinging.
Their engagement ended in 2011, yet their fractious relationship has relentlessly hit headlines ever since.
In June 2015, the former TOWIE golden couple were locked in a bitter war of words over Lauren’s alleged obsession with name-dropping Mark and discussing his fairytale wedding to Michelle.
Lauren vented her frustrations in a lengthy rant, claiming she wasn’t milking her romance with Mark for publicity.
He added: ‘I was a bit of a cheeky chappy, but I was playing up to it more and of course people don’t like that because you’re upsetting people and I was aware of that’ (pictured in 2011)
She wrote: ‘I’m not living off Mark for money. I have been offered numerous interviews to talk about him, particularly of late – all of which I have turned down… I only ever speak about him to defend myself against stories which aren’t from me.’
Mark and Lauren were arguably TOWIE’s original golden couple, with the first seasons of the structured reality show charting their turbulent on/off relationship peppered with his flings with Sam Faiers and Lucy Mecklenburgh.
In the very first episode, Lauren was seen getting a spray tan in Amy Childs’ in-house beauty salon while sporting just her underwear leading to the beautician spying Lauren’s inking on her bikini line – displaying her childhood flame’s name.
While Amy marvelled at the inking, Lauren revealed Mark had encouraged her to get the tattoo although in the next episode the hunk was seen watching the show back and proclaimed she ‘looked about 20 stone’ – much to her devastation.
Couple: Mark, who has carved out a career as a presenter, is now married to Michelle Keegan
Later in the episode, during her birthday festivities at Sugar Hut, Mark was seen talking to Sam at the bar while Lauren partied with her pals and once she had spotted the chat, Lauren went on to brand the duo a ‘pair of c**ts’.
In the following series, she was seen to have the tattoo removed in a bold statement however just hours after departing the laser salon, Mark interrupted her drinks with her sister Nicola to pop the question in a pub car park – to which she said yes.
Ultimately it ended in tears, with their engagement being called off for good in 2012, following a host of devastating twists and turns – with Sam professing her love for the hunk after the engagement and an eventual infidelity with Lucy in Marbella.
Mark is now married to actress Michelle Keegan while Lauren, who is pregnant with her second child, is in a relationship with Charles Drury, with the couple parents to eight-month-old daughter Larose.
Stuttering romance: Lauren reality star had been in an on-off relationship with builder Charles Drury, 24, since 2020
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