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Matthew Wright (erm… right) has hosted The Wright Stuff for 18 years on Channel 5, but he’s now called it a day. Did he jump or was he pushed?
After making the announcement on Tuesday lunchtime, he hadn’t even told his staff, as per Storm’s tweet below, making Matthew seem more like Alan Partridge when he fired everyone at Peartree Productions, and was too chicken to do so face to face.
He’s been even more on edge since the show transferred from Princess Productions to ITN, leading to the move to a tiny studio with a fake backdrop.
The biggest shocks in life will always manage to blindside you on an idle Tuesday afternoon.#TuesdayThoughts
— Storm Huntley (@StormHuntley) May 1, 2018
Reasons why he might’ve been sacked?
- 1. He always argues with the callers, and feels he has to take a ‘Devil’s Advocate’ point of view, and if you’re not talking about exactly the same thing he wants to discuss, he’ll shout you down until you submit or hang up, after which, he’ll take the moral high ground.
- 2. He even has a go at the guests, such as when Iain Lee was on the show, since the move took place, and Matthew kept pressing him about his depression, which Iain had already requested not to be discussed on air, to the point where Iain had to shout back and left the set during the first advert break.
Iain Lee has been winding him up, saying he’ll be presenting The Iain Lee Stuff, and that Matthew has a potential job lined up on TalkRadio. Either way, given Matthew’s actions on TWS, he certainly gives the air of a man who’ll be twiddling his thumbs come the summer.
- 3. There was a mountain made out of a molehill when transgender activist and all-round blow-hard Paris Lees was on the panel, sat next to The Chase’s Anne Hegarty, and as they discussed gender issues during the paper review, Anne came out with “Well, you would know; you used to be a boy, didn’t you?” – blurting it out without thought being an apparent condition of her Asperger’s syndrome, which was factually accurate, but Matthew blew it out of all proportion and failed to apologise, leading to his suspension from the show the following day.
- 4. There’s always the same people on the panel, and there’s topics which are ripped from Mumsnet and the Daily Mail (“Without the Daily Mail, we wouldn’t have a show!”, he’s said on more than one occasion).
- 5. He constantly bangs on about not being a “breeder” and how annoying children are, when he’s well documented for having tried IVF.
- 6. His wife, Amelia, says she can now spend more time with him, but he’s always voluntarily holidaying alone, bothering the fish; and he’s even said live in air how he and Mrs Wright don’t partake in the usual marital business.
- 7. As shown in the video below, he admitted that from “late June / early July” – so he doesn’t even know exactly when he’s going, which could indicate he only signed a 6-month contract with ITN – he doesn’t actually know what he’ll be doing from then! So he’ll be out of a job! Never mind, eh. Do ITV still show Jobfinder at 4am?
- 8. He outed TV presenter John Leslie as Ulrika Jonsson‘s alleged rapist in October 2002 after she wrote in her autobiography, Honest, that “an acquaintance” had raped her when she was 19. Leslie’s career never recovered, so perhaps HE should take over?
- 9. And let’s not forget Jack… which is one of his aliases. He’s the man who regularly phones up, making slanderous comments about “Shannon Goodman”, whoever she is.
So, where does The Wright Stuff go from here? I’d like TV reviewer Kevin O’Sullivan takes over, although they’ll most likely go for a safe pair of hands like Matt Barbet or Richard Madeley. Who doesn’t like a nice helping of Dick in the morning?
Or might former Babe in the Booth Kirsty Duffy take over? Anything can happen…
As for Matthew Wright, no doubt he’ll have plenty of time to spend with his friends, since whatever the topic, he always has a friend who’s gone through that situation. He’s a walking, talking soap opera!
In the meantime, check out this video from yesterday, when he was forced, by Anne Diamond, to talk about it on air:
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.