Mark Wright, the star of TV’s The Only Way Is Essex, was forced to spend the whole of yesterday in police cells after being arrested for fighting in his own nightclub.
The 23-year-old club owner, along with Lewis Tweed, younger brother of Jade Goody’s widower Jack, received a ticking-off for an early-morning punch-up with local gangsters.
A source told The Sun that the pair ended up in an altercation with a local ‘heavy’ at Mark’s Deuces Bar in Chigwell after Mark allegedly refused to pay ‘protection money’.
The source said: “It was like a red rag to a bull for Mark and fighting started. Punches were thrown before worried club-goers called the police.”
A spokesperson confirmed that Mark spent the day at Ilford police station but insisted he was merely ‘protecting his nightclub’.
Mark’s bosses at the ITV2 ‘living soap’ are said to be furious and are planning to read the riot act to him.
The show’s real life stars are not paid salaries for taking part in the series but can rake in thousands through personal appearances.