Mark Wright opens up on ‘snobbery’ he encountered at radio host role

Mark Wright faced criticism due to his rise to fame as a reality star on TOWIE, with some assuming he didn’t have “talent”, while others “laughed” at him for expanding his career into radio.

Speaking exclusively to Express.co.uk, Mark said: “Reality TV gives you an incredible jump in life and puts you on a ladder to give you the opportunity to go into whatever you want, really, after gaining a following from that.

“But at the same time, if you want to go into the TV world and get something different away from that, then, in England particularly, it’s not easy, because it comes with a stigma.

“And once you’re a reality star, it just becomes you, and people think you haven’t got a talent or you can’t do this,” the 36-year-old presenter added.

Mark reflected on when he first began working at Heart FM, recalling how “people laughed” at his ambition.

He admitted: “I remember getting my radio job, you know, and in some places, there’s snobbery to it.

“If you’re a radio jockey, you’ve been a radio jockey forever, and that’s all you do.

“And I remember walking into the building where I work and hearing voices and people talking like, ‘Jesus, was it right doing this?’ And here I am 12 years later still on the same network, the biggest commercial radio station in the world,” he added.

Since December 24 2012, Mark has presented the “Club Classics” show every Friday and Saturday evening on Heart, between 7pm and 9 pm.

He left in December 2017 when he moved to the United States, and returned to the station in July 2019.

In March 2020, after the defection of Sian Welby to Capital FM, he took up the Monday to Thursday evening slot at the station.

It comes as Mark has emotionally opened up about the constant thought that plagues him, despite forging a successful career and finding the love of his life in Michelle Keegan.

The presenter confessed that the trauma he faced as a child has led him to believe he’ll lose his own fortune someday.

Speaking on the Big Fish with Spencer Matthews podcast, Mark shared the struggles his father went through when they lost everything.

He shared that when his dad lost their money, the family were forced to sell their home and move into a flat, before his parents and siblings ended up staying separately with different relatives.

“I’ve always believed in my heart, I’m gonna lose it all one day and I can’t get it out of my head.”

Mark candidly shared. “I watched my dad go from pretty wealthy when we were kids, and he lost everything.”