Celebrity Big Brother winner Paddy Doherty has said he wants to fight The Only Way Is Essex star Mark Wright, calling him 'cocky and arrogant' and vowing to knock him out in the first round.
The 67-year-old Irish TV personality recalled meeting Wright, 39, at the Bafta awards in 2011, when Doherty was starring in Big Fat Gypsies Wedding and Wright was at the height of his TOWIE fame.
Doherty recalls first meeting
'I met him at the awards, at the Baftas. He wasn't rude to me I wouldn't let him be, not in a million years, but he had that look, like "look at me". You get it on, I'll do it!' Doherty said in a new interview.
That same year, Doherty won his series of Celebrity Big Brother while Wright exited TOWIE.
Doherty wants to fight Wright
Now, 15 years later, Doherty said he is ready to 'knock him out' in a spar. He told The Sun: 'I would love to fight Mark Wright; he's cocky, arrogant, above himself, I'd love me and him in the ring. I'm a lot older than him but I guarantee I'd knock him out in the first round.'
Doherty also named former model Calum Best as someone he would like to fight, but on better terms, as the pair starred together in the 2012 reality series Celebrity Bainisteoi.
Wright a new father
Wright has not responded to Doherty's comments. He has been busy adjusting to life as a new father after his wife, Michelle Keegan, gave birth to their daughter Palma in March 2025.
On his Heart FM radio show, Wright said fatherhood is 'hard to put into words' and 'the biggest achievement of my life'. He added: 'It's the best feeling in the world. I wake up every morning just so excited to see her face.'
Metro has contacted Mark Wright's representatives for comment.
