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 , 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 – 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 as a ruthless underworld boss involved in “fraud, 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 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.
producers regularly used Hunt’s Woolston Manor Golf & Country Club as a backdrop for several scenes.
Hunt bought the Chigwell venue — founded by footie legend 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 .
On its opening night in 2010, the venue – Deuces – 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 .
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 with.
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 werefor around a minute but left when they heardyelling.
were also alerted via the state-of-the-art security system, and arrived at the couple’smansion within minutes.
By then the gang, said to be wearing balaclavas and all dressed in black, had fled empty-handed in a getaway car.
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 was arson and said 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.
