Matthew Wright (presenter)

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For other people named Matthew Wright, see Matthew Wright (disambiguation).
Matthew Wright
Born
Alexander Matthew Wright

(1965-07-08) 8 July 1965 (age 58)
Richmond upon Thames, Surrey, England
Occupation(s)Television presenter, radio presenter, journalist
SpouseAmelia Wright (m. 2010)
WebsiteOfficial Website

Twitter
Official Twitter

Alexander Matthew Wright (born 8 July 1965 in Richmond upon Thames, Surrey[1]) is an English television presenter and tabloid journalist, best known for formerly writing for The Sun and for being a showbusiness gossip columnist for The Daily Mirror.

Since 2000, Wright has been the host of the topical discussion series The Wright Stuff, which airs on weekday mornings on Channel 5. He is renowned for his outspoken opinions and he has been described by the Daily Express as "never far from controversy".[2]

In 2013, Wright took part in the thirteenth series of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!. He was the fourth participant to be eliminated.

Early life and education

Wright started his career at the age of 14, appearing in the Children's Film Foundation production Big Wheels And Sailor (1979).[3] He was educated at the voluntary-aided Roman Catholic boys' John Fisher School in Purley, South London and was in the same class as the artist and sculptor Diarmuid Bryon O'Connor and DJ Gilles Peterson. He also attended Croydon Youth Theatre in South Norwood. Following school, Wright attended the University of Exeter, graduating in English and Drama.[3]

Career

Wright became a showbusiness correspondent with The Sun and later wrote a column for the Daily Mirror in the 1990s, with future 3AM girl Polly Graham as his assistant. During his time at the Daily Mirror, Wright covered numerous celebrity stories, including the wedding of Phil Collins and Orianne Cevey in 1999, which he claimed was the longest wedding he had ever been to.[4]

He left the Daily Mirror in 2000 to pursue a television career and launch the website mykindaplace.com.[5] He was chosen to front Channel 5's daily topical discussion series The Wright Stuff, which started broadcasting in September 2000. Wright originally co-presented the series with panellists James O'Brien and Kate Silverton. After a couple of years, O'Brien and Silverton were replaced by a new panel every week and the series began attracting celebrities to guest on the panel every day.

In 2002, Wright was a contributor to Phil Collins: A Life Less Ordinary, a BBC television documentary which profiled the life and career of the Genesis band member and solo musician.[6] The documentary, narrated by Mariella Frostrup, was released on DVD on 9 June 2003.[7]

Since 2007, Wright has been the lead presenter on BBC One's Inside Out programme in the London area.[8]

In September 2011, Wright joined the Daily Star Sunday as a columnist, but was dropped by the newspaper in March 2012.[9]

In February 2014, Wright hosted The Big Benefits Row: Live on Channel 5, a debate broadcast live from 9:00pm with guests including Ken Livingstone, Annabel Giles, Edwina Currie and Katie Hopkins.

In March 2014, he appeared on Sport Relief's Top Dog with his dog, Wiggy.

In April 2014, Wright appeared on Celebrity Juice, where he sucked Marmite from an elderly man’s nipples and licked marmalade out of his belly button.[10]

I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!

Main article: I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!

It was confirmed on 11 November 2013, that Wright was to appear in the thirteenth series, which he took part in from 17 November 2013. During this time on the show, The Wright Stuff was guest presented by Richard Madeley for almost a month. He was the fourth participant to be voted out of the series in a double eviction with campmate Vincent Simone on 3 December.[11]

Opinions

Wright often implies a sense of rivalry with fellow television presenter Jeremy Kyle and his eponymously named The Jeremy Kyle Show, which is broadcast on ITV at the same time as The Wright Stuff is broadcast on Channel Five. He has spoken negatively of the viewers of Kyle's series, believing that they lack intelligence. Wright has said: "I'd say our show is about the normal world while he plumbs the depths of inbred, alkie, junkie wasters with rampant sex lives."[12] In 2013, Wright further criticised Kyle, claiming: "It's revolting. I have no respect for it. His old radio phone-in [on Capital FM] was inspiring and wonderful. Now his TV show is about humiliating failures for entertainment. It's vile. I have no time to watch it. I have better things to do. He is a nice enough bloke but he has sold his soul."[13]

Wright has been associated with a number of mainly left-wing political causes. He is a long-time supporter of nuclear disarmament in the United Kingdom and was involved in anti-nuclear marches in the early 1980s. In December 2010, while presenting his show, Wright criticised Tony Blair's property ownership, stating that he "ended up with five houses as a result of the boom years of Labour. And when he was interviewed by Andrew Marr about the five houses, Tony offered the righteous, socialist excuse that he has to look after his children, of which I believe there are four. Four children, five houses. So it's a little bit beyond a house per child."[14]

In March 2011, Wright described Blair as a "good friend" of Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi, presenting a photograph of Blair shaking Gaddafi's hand, and criticised Blair for selling guns and crowd control weapons to Gaddafi for him to use against his own people.[15]

Wright advocates higher taxes on the wealthy. In a June 2012 edition of his show, he said: "The most important thing we have to remember is that the very rich pay less tax. That's the objective of the Government. The very rich were paying 50% tax, now it's gone down to 45%. But we've got to remember the priority in this country is to ensure the rich get richer."[16]

Wright has criticised senior UK politicians, such as Prime Minister David Cameron, for refusing to appear on The Wright Stuff, claiming this was a result of "backward-thinking politicians" who "only do business with ITV and the BBC."[13]

Wright, who has no children, has criticised people who have more than two children, calling them irresponsible.[17]

In June 2013, Wright criticised singer Beyoncé Knowles for performing in skimpy clothes at Chime For Change's "The Sound of Change Live" concert at London's Twickenham Stadium. Wright, claiming that Beyoncé was dressing like a "slut", asked: "Why does empowering women always involve acting as a sex object for men? How does she demonstrate empowering women? She looks to me like a victim of a male-driven record business."[18]

Controversies

In 1998, in his review published in the Daily Mirror, Wright referred to the play The Dead Monkey featuring David Soul as "without doubt the worst West End show I have ever seen", despite not having seen it. Wright also made several other inaccurate claims about the play in his article. In 2001, Soul won £20,000 in a libel case against Wright and the Daily Mirror, stating that Wright was "using the play as an excuse to attack me personally".[19]

In 2002, Wright named John Leslie live on air as the television presenter being linked to the alleged rape of Ulrika Jonsson. Wright subsequently claimed he couldn't remember blurting out Leslie's name during the show. In a Sky 1 show, John Leslie: My Year of Hell, Wright offered John Leslie an apology. Leslie confirmed he wouldn't sue Wright, claiming: "I think he just made a really big mistake and unfortunately I was the one paying the price."[20]

In October 2011, Wright caused a controversy when he asked male viewers of The Wright Stuff if they would have sex with Amanda Knox, who had just been acquitted of the murder of Meredith Kercher. Wright introduced a debate on Knox's future with an on-screen caption headed "Foxy Knoxy: Would Ya?" and told viewers: "She's entirely innocent. She's also undeniably fit and loves wild sex. Or did. So if you were a guy who'd met her in a bar and she invited you back to hers, would you go?" Wright apologised for the segment the following day, stating: "While I'm not going to apologise for discussing Amanda Knox's future after all the terrible things the media has said about her these past four years, I do want to say sorry for the way I framed the debate. The on-screen title was wrong, no doubt about it. I only wish all those mouthing off about it on Twitter had seen the whole 20-minute debate and not just reacted to the 10-second introduction. But nevertheless, I am sorry."[21]

In December 2011, Wright made a joke during a discussion on his show of the murder of Scottish teenager Liam Aitchison, resulting in more than 2,000 viewer complaints and an investigation by regulator Ofcom.[22] This edition of The Wright Stuff resulted in more complaints being made to Ofcom than any other programme in 2011.[23] Wright personally wrote to Aitchison's family by way of apology.[24]

Personal life

Wright's first marriage ended in a bitter legal battle that he claims "made me wary of relationships".[25] In 2003, he started a relationship with Closer columnist Caroline Monk.[26] He met his second wife, Amelia Gatte,[27][28] at a garden party held by their mutual friend Miriam Stoppard.[25] They married in 2010.[28] In 2013, they revealed they were trying to conceive a baby with the help of in vitro fertilization but three of their IVF pregnancies so far had ended in a miscarriage. His wife is unable to fall pregnant naturally following an ectopic pregnancy.[28]

Wright has stated that he is "a slightly camp man" and has said: "I can't be any other way, so if people want to imagine that they're my gay lovers, more power to them."[29] Wright has acknowledged that "everyone thinks I'm gay" [25] and claimed to have an attraction to Rylan Clark when he appeared on The Wright Stuff.[30]

Wright counts fly fishing as one of his passions.[25] He has a Miniature Schnauzer, which he calls by the full title "Wiggy Wiggy Woo Woo, His Royal Highness, Prince of Wiggleness", and "Wiggy" for short.[31]

References

  1. ^ "findmypast.co.uk". Search.findmypast.co.uk. Retrieved 25 August 2014.
  2. ^ Smith, Christine (16 June 2013). "Matthew Wright is never far from controversy – so what's the secret of his success?". The Daily Express. Retrieved 19 June 2013. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  3. ^ a b "Matthew Wright". BBC. 14 August 2007. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
  4. ^ "Phil Can't Hurry Love: Rocker's wedding goes on for THREE days". The Free Library. 26 July 1999. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
  5. ^ John Diamond (27 December 2000). ""And the nominations are...": John Diamond Hands out his End-of-Year Media Awards". London: Evening Standard. Retrieved 2 November 2007. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  6. ^ "Phil Collins: A Life Less Ordinary (2002)". DVD Movie Guide. 27 June 2003. Retrieved 15 July 2013.
  7. ^ "Phil Collins – A Life Less Ordinary – Documentary about Phil Collins". The Genesis Archive. Retrieved 17 February 2014.
  8. ^ "Matthew Wright to present Inside Out". London. 7 September 2007.
  9. ^ "Daily Star Sunday axes columnists Matthew Wright and Sally Bercow". The Guardian. London. 9 March 2012.
  10. ^ "Watch Matthew Wright lick marmalade from an elderly man's tummy in bizarre Celebrity Juice preview clip". Mirror. 24 April 2014. Retrieved 27 April 2014.
  11. ^ 'I'm a Celebrity': Steve Davis, Kian Egan arrive in Australia – I'm A Celebrity News – Reality TV. Digital Spy (11 November 2013). Retrieved on 29 November 2013.
  12. ^ "Matthew Wright: "I'd love to do Strictly Come Dancing"".
  13. ^ a b "Jeremy Kyle branded 'vile' by TV sofa rival Matthew Wright". The Drum. 23 May 2013.
  14. ^ The Wright Stuff, 1 December 2010
  15. ^ The Wright Stuff, 21 March 2011
  16. ^ The Wright Stuff, 4 June 2012
  17. ^ The Wright Stuff, 17 May 2013
  18. ^ The Wright Stuff, 3 June 2013
  19. ^ "Soul "vindicated" by Libel Win". BBC. 12 December 2001. Retrieved 12 December 2001.
  20. ^ "Leslie hits out at Ulrika silence". The Scotsman. 27 September 2003. Retrieved 7 October 2013.
  21. ^ Sweney, Mark (5 October 2011). "Matthew Wright Apologises over Amanda Knox Gaffe". The Guardian. London.
  22. ^ Williams, Martin (14 December 2011). "Ofcom to Investigate Wright Stuff Comment about Teenager's Murder". The Guardian. London.
  23. ^ "Wright Stuff gets most Ofcom Complaints of 2011". BBC News. 16 December 2011.
  24. ^ "Liam Aitchison's family accept Matthew Wright apology". BBC News. 19 December 2011.
  25. ^ a b c d Catherine Butler (14 September 2010). "10 Things You Didn't Know About Matthew Wright". Woman and Home. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
  26. ^ "Gang 'happy slaps' cancer woman". BBC News. 21 May 2005.
  27. ^ "'I know plenty of people who get by on £25,000'". Telegraph Online. 20 August 2010. Retrieved 18 March 2014.
  28. ^ a b c "IVF For Matthew Wright & Wife". Female First. 18 November 2013.
  29. ^ Byrne, Ciar (24 July 2006). "Matthew Wright: 'I don't feel I have a job. I'd turn up for nothing'". The Independent. London.
  30. ^ The Wright Stuff 6 June 2013
  31. ^ The Alan Titchmarsh Show. ITV1. 6 March 2014.

External links

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