Joey Essex

Joey Don Essex (born 29 July 1990)^[1] is an English television personality. He rose to fame in 2011 after appearing in the ITV2 television series The Only Way Is Essex with several of his family and friends.^[2] Essex and his sister Frankie left the show in 2013, although his cousin, Chloe Sims, remains on it. In 2013, Essex took part in the first series of the celebrity diving show Splash! and the thirteenth series of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!, where he finished in fourth place. In 2015, he won the Channel 4 reality series The Jump. Some of his television appearances, like on shows such as Celebrity Juice and 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown exploit his lack of education to humorous effect, something Essex appears to have embraced.

Career

Television

Essex first appeared in The Only Way Is Essex as a supporting cast member in series 2 with his cousin, Chloe Sims, but was then promoted to main cast in series 3 where his sister, Frankie joined as supporting cast. His other cousin, Charlie Sims joined as supporting cast during the ninth series. In 2011, the TOWIE cast recorded and released a single entitled "Reem";^[3] the song did not chart in the UK. He also featured in a song with the cast of TOWIE series 3, "Last Christmas", originally released by Wham! in 1984. The cover peaked at number 33 on the UK Singles Chart.

In December 2011, Essex appeared on a Christmas special of All Star Family Fortunes, with the TOWIE CAST, against the cast of Benidorm. He also featured on the Essex team against Benidorm in The Big Quiz in 2012. So far, he has made eight guest appearances on Celebrity Juice, twice in 2012 and six times in 2013, including regular appearances during the tenth series. He has also made guest appearances on Loose Women, 8 Out of 10 Cats, Daybreak, The Xtra Factor, This Morning and Through the Keyhole.^[4]

In 2013, Essex competed in the first series of Splash! where he was eliminated during the "splash-off" in the second heat against television presenter Charlotte Jackson.^[5]

On 13 November 2013, it was announced that Essex had quit The Only Way Is Essex.^[6] Essex also appeared in the thirteenth series of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!^[7] He was voted out on 6 December 2013 after 20 days in the jungle, finishing fourth behind Emmerdale star Lucy Pargeter, fashion designer David Emanuel and former Westlife singer Kian Egan.^[8] During his time on the show, Essex was close to Miss Universe Great Britain, Amy Willerton.^[9] Essex denied the rumours of the pair dating and confirmed they were just friends although he has since claimed they have kissed and slept together.^[10]

In March 2014, Essex starred in a one-off documentary called Educating Joey Essex, taking place in South Africa, narrated by Phillip Schofield. ITV2 later ordered a full series that began in June 2014.^[11] In 2016 ITV announced that the series has been picked up for a seven part second series, the series will air in the summer 2016 with the first episode titled "The Queen's 90th Birthday".^[12]

In 2015, Essex won the second series of Channel 4's reality show The Jump in 2015.

Other ventures

On 8 March 2013, Essex launched a hair products range, Joey Essex: D'Reem Hair.^[13][14] On 23 March 2013, he opened his shop Fusey in Brentwood.^[15]

In July 2013, Essex appeared in the Volvic advert with then girlfriend Sam Faiers on a tropical island where they both mimed "La Bamba".^[16]

On 12 September 2013, Essex launched two fragrances, Fusey aftershave for men and My Girl perfume for women.^[17]

In February 2016, Essex appeared in adverts for Batchelors Cup-a-Soup.^[18]

Personal life

Following his mother's suicide, Essex was told by his family at the age of 10 that the death was caused by a fall, but in 2010, he found out the truth from his sister, Frankie.^[19][20]

Essex was engaged to fellow TOWIE star Sam Faiers, but later split.^[21] They reconciled later in 2012.^[22][23] He then proposed to Sam in March 2013 and she accepted. However, they split again on screen in June 2013 following several arguments between the pair. In March 2014, they gave their relationship another go. Later, they split up again. In 2016, Joey met Celebs Go Dating co-star Stephanie Pratt from Made In Chelsea and after filming, they began a relationship.^[24]

Music releases

Singles

Albums

• Joey Essex Presents Essex Anthems (2014)

Filmography

Guest appearances

• All Star Family Fortunes (25 December 2011) – Contestant (TOWIE vs Benidorm)
• The Xtra Factor (2011) – Guest
• 8 Out of 10 Cats (11 November 2011) – Panellist
• Daybreak (2011, 21 February 2013)
• Loose Women (2011) – Guest
• This Morning (17, 31 August, 15 December 2011, 30 November 2012, 21 February 15 July, 12 December 2013, 28 October 2014) – Guest
• The Million Pound Drop Live (2012) – Contestant, with Sam Faiers^[25]
• Celebrity Juice (29 March & 27 September 2012, 11 April 2013 and 22 October 2015) – Panellist
• The Big Quiz (15 April 2012) – Panellist
• All Star Mr & Mrs (22 May 2013) – Contestant, with Sam Faiers
• Through the Keyhole (28 September 2013) – Celebrity homeowner
• Through the Keyhole (4 October 2014) – Panellist
• The Cube: Celebrity Special (11 April 2014) – Contestant^[26][27]
• Viral Tap (27 April 2014) – Guest
• Utterly Outrageous Frock Ups (2014) – Guest
• 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown (12 September 2014) – Dictionary Corner
• Britain's Got More Talent (29 May 2015) – Panellist
• Celebrity Benchmark (26 September 2015) – Benchmarker
• Release the Hounds (31 October 2015) - Halloween Special

References

Bibliography

• Essex, Joey (2014). Being Reem (first ed.). London: Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN 978-1-444794-328. 

External links

• Joey Essex at the Internet Movie Database