Mark Wright provokes furious backlash with 'dangerous' swimming pool prank

Mark Wright sparked a backlash among his fans when he shared footage of himself pushing his dad into a swimming pool in apparently shallow water. The former The Only Way Is Essex star, 38, is the son of former car dealership businessman Mark Wright, Sr, 68, and former events organiser Carol Wright, 64.

The Wright family - which also includes reality star Jess, 39, footballer Josh, 35, and model Natalya, 24 - have featured on various reality shows, including the BBC show A Wright Old Adventure as well as ITV's Towie. As such, fans have had access to hours and hours of footage about the family and have been given front row access to their personal lives.

Beyond this, fans have been able to feel even closer to Mark and his family thanks to social media. But over the weekend, Mark appeared to overstep the bounds of acceptance when he shared footage of a prank that many fans feared had the potential to go spectacularly wrong.

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Taking to Instagram on Saturday, Mark uploaded a video clip of himself creeping up on his father who was standing at the edge of a swimming pool. Other family members were gathered in and around the pool as Mark padded towards his father.

As he reached the older businessman, Mark reached out and pushed his dad into the pool - shoving him in at the shallow edge where tiled steps led down to the water and where a young boy was swimming casually. After being submerged, Mark Sr resurfaced and was less than impressed.

He swore colourfully as he reached into the pocket of his shorts and pulled out his phone - which was at risk of being damaged by the water. Meanwhile Mark laughed away in the background of the footage.

The former Towie star shared the footage on his main grid alongside a caption stating: "Sorry for the language the old man didn’t like that one @bigmarkwright," and with a couple of crying-with-laughter emojis.

But fans and followers were not amused by the clip and many took to the comments section to express their deep concern. One wrote in reply: "Not funny with the steps and the child, could have ended badly."

A post shared by Mark Wright (@wrigAnd another questioned: "Did anyone else has anxiety over the little boy getting squashed in that water??" It turned out many did feel similarly, with one responding: "that and his dad breaking his ankle on steps" - while another typed: "also that his old man could have seriously gone over on his ankle or hurt his knee, hip etc. I’m all for fun but no chance I’d be doing this to my dad."

Another follower hit out writing: "So bloody dangerousl pushing someone into a pool ffs." And another bluntly responded: "Not even slightly funny."

Some fans accused Mark of showcasing typical behaviour, with one writing: "This is not funny why you so rude to your parents I’ve seen this in your reality shows as well."

But others defended the star, with one writing: "God what a load of Karen’s, in the top message.hes dads fine it’s a family thing. So stop." And others had more sympathy for Mark Sr's reaction, with one writing: "With his phone in his pocket I’d be fuming."

Family members were among those reacting to the post, with Mark's older sister commenting: "Of course daughter Jess comes to the rescue." While youngest sister Natalya wrote: "Poor dad" along with a crying-with-laughter emoji.

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