Only weeks after announcing Michelle Keegan’s pregnancy, Mark Wright‘s family suffered a major heartbreak as his beloved grandfather passed away.
They have endured a lot of difficulties over the years – tragic deaths, concerning health conditions and major financial losses.
However, the Wright clan has stuck together through thick and thin. As the family suffers another loss with Eddie’s passing, here are all the challenges they have overcome.
Uncle’s death to Covid
Mark Wright shared his sadness back in 2021 after losing his uncle Eddie to Covid-19. He battled the virus for eight weeks, and died at the age of 66, leaving the Wright family devastated.
Remembering his beloved uncle following his death, Mark said: “Growing up, Eddie was the uncle you dream an uncle to be. Nowhere, never, ever will you find better. My uncle Eddie, you were one in a trillion. You taught me so much!! Nearly everything I know as a man.”
He added: “I/we are absolutely broken, but together because we are the family we are…. we will get through, somehow some day. We will look after auntie Debbie, our cousins and your grandchildren forever and that is promise.”
Mark’s cousin – and Eddie’s son – is Elliott Wright.
Speaking on their Wright Family Holiday series, Mark’s dad, Mark Snr, also revealed: “Eddie my brother, we were very good friends and not just brothers. It was horrendous when he passed away. To lose someone so close and have to tell my mum and dad was horrendous. My mum shook for an hour.
Eddie was also diagnosed with prostate cancer and underwent treatment for it in 2013. As a result, Mark and his cousin Elliott have made it their mission to spread awareness about prostate cancer. Mark’s grandfather was also diagnosed with the same illness. The cousins, who appeared together on TOWIE in the 2010s, run a marathon every year to support the cause.
Nanny Pat’s passing
Nanny Pat, whose real name was Patricia Brooker, passed away in 2015 after a short illness. She was popular for appearing in the early series of TOWIE.
The Wright family announced her death in a statement saying: “We are overwhelmed by sadness, and the whole family ask for privacy at this horrible time.”
A spokesperson for the show said: “We are absolutely devastated to hear the sad news about our beloved Nanny Pat.”
Mark Wright’s much-loved grandmother had five children, 14 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
Financial loss and alcohol problem
Mark revealed in 2023 that he’s still traumatised by the financial loss his family suffered when he was a child.
Speaking on the Big Fish podcast, the 37 year old opened up about watching his dad go from rich to “nothing”.
He said his siblings – Josh and Jessica – were “oblivious” to changes such as moving to a smaller one-bedroom house and eventually staying with grandparents as they couldn’t afford the rent.
Whereas Mark was deeply affected by the situation at his home. He confessed that his father, Mark Wright Snr, turned to alcohol to cope with the loss, which affected his relationship with his mother.
“I watched my dad go from pretty wealthy when we were kids, and he lost everything,” Mark recalled. “It happened between the age of six to eight or nine, and even at such a young age, I was so aware of it. Whereas my sister and brother weren’t really.”
Although Mark and his wife Michelle live in a £3.5 million Essex mansion, he fears he’s going to “lose it all” one day, owing to his past “trauma”.
The TOWIE star said: “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.”
Death of Mark Wright’s family dog
Mark and his family suffered another heartache in 2017 when their pet dog passed away. The miniature dachshund lived at his family home.
He posted a photo with Scunny in his Instagram Stories and wrote: “Rip angel Scunny!! Gone but never forgotten.”
The I’m A Celebrity said his family had a lot of dogs and Scunny was one of them. “My dogs are like my kids,” Mark once shared.
Shocking family tragedy
While tracing back his roots on the BBC show Who Do You Think You Are?, Mark discovered a shocking detail about one of his ancestors.
His nine-times great-grandfather, David de Mendoza, was a Jew and born in 1660. David was a master swordsman in Jaen, Andalucia, in Southern Spain.
Apparently, it was against the law to practice any religion apart from Catholicism back in the day and David was arrested in 1696 for secretly practicing Judaism.
He’s said to have been “tortured” for two years while all his assets were frozen, but David refused to confess that he went against the law. Meanwhile, his nephew was “burned at the stake”.
Sharing the tragic story and his ancestor’s eventual escape, Mark said: “And then he worked out this scheme of how to get himself from Seville to nearer the coast and then he went to Cadiz and that’s how he escaped.”
According to Express UK, the next available records show that David was able to make it to Amsterdam.
Mark shared on This Morning: “That’s where it becomes emotional because, at this point, you can’t relate to it ‒ it 300 years ago, a guy called David/Antonia de Mendoza.”
He added: “He’s from my bloodline, but I’m like, I can’t relate to it, it’s just a sad story.”
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Josh Wright’s premature baby
Mark’s brother, Josh, welcomed his second baby with wife Hollie in February 2023. But their son was born 12 weeks early, leaving the Wright family worried – and eager to meet the tot, who remained in hospital for a while.
The professional footballer confirmed that his baby boy was “looking healthy”, although he arrived a lot earlier than his due date.
Posting a picture of the baby in an incubator, Josh wrote: “At 28 weeks, 12 weeks early our beautiful baby boy was born 11.2.23 at 6.08 am weighing 2.4lbs.
“Caught us by surprise for sure but we can’t thank @princessalexandranhs midwives, nurses, doctors and everyone associated enough for making what has been such a difficult time that little bit easier.”
Two years later, their son is healthy and is seen in most of the recent pictures on Instagram, including Christmas and Halloween celebrations.
Mark Wright and his family heartache: Elliott Wright’s restaurant fire
The Wright family was faced with heartache in 2021 when Elliott‘s restaurant in Spain, Olivia’s, burned to the ground. The exact cause of the fire wasn’t revealed.
The devastating blaze at the Costa del Sol restaurant occurred within days of Elliott’s father’s death. The fire reportedly broke out on April 26, 2021 at around 5.30am.
Mark’s cousin revealed the news on Instagram: “So I will get this out there as no doubt this news will spread fast… unfortunately it’s with regret that @olivias_la_cala had a fire in the early hours of this morning… it’s too soon to say why, all that matters is it has.
“More importantly in life you get tested.. it’s been a very testing couple of years.. especially recently.. but if you know me, you know I will rise from this.. I will rebuild it big and better than before.. I will never be beaten.”
True to his word, Elliott wasn’t beaten, with Olivia’s once again thriving today.
Just two months after the fire, Elliott revealed that his wife Sadie had suffered a miscarriage when she was five months pregnant. The couple are now parents to two boys – Johnny and Billy. Elliott is also dad to Olivia and Elliott Jnr from a previous relationship.
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Jess Wright’s baby’s health condition
Mark’s sister Jess revealed in August 2024 that her son had a heart condition called Bicuspid Aortic Valve.
The 39-year-old TOWIE star and her husband William Lee-Kemp welcomed their son Presley Stone Lee-Kemp in May 2022.
The condition that’s affecting the two-year-old boy means that he needs open-heart surgery as he grows. Unfortunately, his parents have no choice but to “learn to live with it now”.
The heart disease means that his heart valve has only two small parts called leaflets, instead of the normal three. Therefore, it restricts the flow of blood from the heart to the rest of the body.
Giving an update on Presley’s health, Jess recently shared: “You’d never know by looking at him though. He’s a little dream. I would take his pain away in a heartbeat if I could. I would swap my heart with his any day of the week.”
Read more: Sam Faiers congratulates ex Mark Wright as Michelle Keegan’s pregnancy announced
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