Mark Wright has admitted that landing his dream job in LA wasn’t all it was cracked up to be after he relocated to the US in 2016.
The former TOWIE star says he was left “sad and lonely” after he signed up as an entertainment reporter on the US show Extra, two years after marrying Michelle Keegan.
Speaking on his Heart FM radio show, the 32-year-old opened up about the effect the move to the States had on him during a discussion about a survey on whether money can buy you happiness.
He said: “60% of people say no - and I’m with them.
“Why am I with them? Kind of a personal experience if you don’t mind me sharing it.
“Now of course if you have the important things in life, like on this list number one was laughter, number two was family and love, so if you have that and then you come in to money somehow, of course it’s going to make what you already have a little bit happier, but can it buy happiness that’s not there? No I don’t think I can.”
He continued: “I was fortunate enough to get an amazing job in Los Angeles, somewhere where I’ve always wanted to work, in Hollywood.
“I was living in the hills, Beverly Hills and the Hollywood Hills – life was great, so I thought. Four, five months in, I sat back and I was a bit lonely, I wasn’t that happy, and obviously I went there to get a better job and to get more money as we say.
“And I was without my wife, who wasn’t living there because she couldn’t and my family wasn’t there, my mum, my dad, my brothers and sisters, my friends – I can’t tell you how much I missed the normal things just sitting down the pub, the rain hitting the windows.
“The things we moaned about before I went, and how lonely I felt and how sad I felt and that was all because I was chasing the money basically.
“And I can tell you know from first hand that money doesn’t buy happiness. The reason why I like to talk about this is because I feel so passionate about it because there’s something to be said in just having security, having a roof above your head, with your family, with your loved ones.
“So if you’re with your loved ones right now, or your family, hold them close, get a takeaway in tonight, turn the heating on, cuddle up, winter’s coming – oh I love it, you cannot beat it.”
Mark has since relocated back to the UK after quitting his presenting job on Extra back in January.
He said at the time: “It just feels like the right time to come back to the UK and live here with my wife and family.
“I’ll always be grateful to the show Extra for the amazing opportunity they gave me.”