MARK Wright had the world at his feet - quite literally. As captain of the Spurs youth team, the football career he had dreamed of throughout his childhood appeared to lie ahead of him.
But one holiday as an 18-year-old in which he gained a stone put paid to his sporting plans.
Now, aged 33, he has returned to Crawley FC to see whether he has what it takes to make it as a professional footballer.
“I remember after your first season at Tottenham you went away with your mates to Spain and came back a stone overweight, I couldn’t believe it,” his dad, also called Mark, told him during an episode of new BBC show Mark Wright: The Last Chance, which follows his journey back into professional football.
His son replied: “It ruined my career. I remember the boss looking at me and thinking, ‘What have you done?’.”
His ability to deliver on the pitch dropped dramatically, and he was released from the Premier League club as a result.
Mark said: “The day I got released from Tottenham was one of the worst days of my life. I cried my eyes out, realised I messed up.
“I didn’t want to face my family, didn’t want to face my friends. I was embarrassed.
“I had it all. I was 18 and going to clubs, and I just thought, it’s done.
“I’ve been spoiled and played for Arsenal, West Ham and Tottenham all my life, I’ve never had to suffer when it comes to football.
“I was captain of the (Spurs) youth team, playing for the reserves with Jamie Redknapp, Stephane Dalmat, Helder Postiga.
“I went away one summer for a month. I drank alcohol for the first time, ate what I wanted every day, put on a stone-and-a-half.
“Then I came back to training for pre-season and the goalkeepers were beating me.
“I never pulled it back.”
He moved to League One Southend, but again things did not work out and he quit the game, playing for a series of non-league sides.
With wages in these lower divisions far from enough to live off, he balanced playing for Hertfordshire outfit Bishop Stortford with jobs as both a stockbroker and a nightclub promoter.
He said: “On a Tuesday and a Thursday I would get a train to London for work... stockbroking.
“I would get a train from there to Bishop Stortford, who I played for, to train.
“Then after training I’d go back into London to promote a club night until three in the morning.
“I was running on fumes.”
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However, Mark’s career soon took a very different turn.
In 2010 he was named as one of the original cast members of the ITV reality show The Only Way Is Essex.
He soon became popular among viewers, prompting ITV bosses to sign him up for the 2011 series of I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here, in which he finished runner-up.
Several presenting roles followed on shows such as dating show spin-off Take Me Out: The Gossip before he landed a spot as a contestant on Strictly Come Dancing in 2014.
He has also been a DJ on Heart radio since 2012.
His glitzy career has taken him across the world and seen him rub shoulders with
Hollywood royalty, conducting interviews with the likes of Jumanji actor Kevin Hart and American singer Usher.
In 2012, he met Coronation Street actor Michelle Keegan and at a club night in Dubai romance blossomed, with the pair tying the knot three years later.
But, despite building a successful career and relationship, there was one thing that continued to niggle at Mark’s mind.
Football.
So, this year, he returned to Crawley Town FC after spending a short spell with the club during the 2006-2007 season.
“The hardest working players make it, and that’s what I didn’t do,” Mark said.
The League Two club signed him on a non-contract basis last month after he impressed in training and a series of behind-closed-doors friendlies.
And, last weekend, the 33-year-old’s dream came true.
He made his debut in professional football, coming on as a substitute for the final few minutes as the Reds dispatched Premier League outfit Leeds United 3-0 in an FA Cup clash.
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