Published: 12:04 BST, 28 August 2026 | Updated: 13:42 BST, 28 August 2026
'You’re going to see Joey Essex for who I really am,’ says, er, Joey Essex. The reality star who likes to refer to himself in the third person is about to compete in tough new ITV challenge show The Box, hosted by Gary Lineker.
‘I’d like to say people will see the smart version of Joey Essex for the first time on this show,’ says the boyish 36-year-old, proud of the way he surprises his fellow contestants at times. Then he remembers it also goes the other way, and laughs. ‘But they will also see the not-smart version of Joey Essex, actually.’
The latter is the version who first became famous on The Only Way Is Essex 15 years ago. His name, surprisingly, is real and has nothing at all to do with the county where he lives. Joey Don Essex was born in Southwark, south London, in 1990, and his family moved north of the river to Chigwell, Essex, when he was a child.
Since breaking through, Joey has appeared on almost every reality and quiz show going. He’s made a living out of being good-looking, cheeky, charming and apparently comically dim. Or as Joey puts it, ‘My friends think I’m ridiculous. I’m just not that intelligent.’
And yet, this is a man who has launched his own clothing and fragrance ranges, lives in a huge house with a pool in Chigwell, and is reported to be worth more than £8million. Is it all an act? Even his family aren’t sure. ‘My own dad said to me a little while ago, “You do know how to tell the time, don’t you?” I said, “Dad, I genuinely don’t.” I swear on my life, I can’t.’
His campmates on I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! in 2013 famously tried to help him do something he’d failed to learn at school by drawing clock hands in the sand, but the problem persists. ‘If I had a watch on I could give it a go, but when the hands are wonky, there’s a bit of confusion.’
Joey Essex's name, surprisingly, is real and has nothing at all to do with the county where he lives. Joey Don Essex was born in Southwark, south London, in 1990
Lydia Bright, Lucy Mecklenburgh, Billie Faiers, Joey Essex, Lauren Goodger, Sam Faiers and Jessica Wright in the third series of The Only Way Is Essex
There’s a terrible, tragic reason why some aspects of his development were arrested at a young age, which he will talk about today. But like Jade Goody before him, this Essex boy has flipped the whole thing and turned a reputation for being daft to his advantage.
Has he been playing a character all this time? ‘Kind of. I’m very different around my friends. I talk very fast. I’ve got a natural funniness. If someone calls action and the cameras are on, I know what people want to see,’ he says. ‘They want to be entertained.
'I wouldn’t say I’m a comedian because my jokes are terrible, but I use my innocent side. I play on being Joey Essex, because everyone knows me.’
His nine fellow contestants on The Box are surprised to realise Joey is fitter and sharper than they thought, though, starting with the former footballer and manager Graeme Souness. ‘Love Graeme. Legend,’ says Joey. ‘I think what he was trying to say is that when you meet me for who I really am, you can see that I’m actually quite normal, not the clown that people have seen for 15 years.
'I’ve got my strengths and weaknesses, just like everyone else. My strengths are that I can bring energy. I can make everyone feel confident, ready to do whatever we need to do next. I’m always up for a challenge.’
That’s tested to extremes in The Box, the contestants of which also include Dragons’ Den’s Sara Davies and John Bercow, former Speaker of the House of Commons. They are put inside yellow shipping containers, each the size of a telephone box, and taken to an unknown location, where they have to open the door and figure out the nature of the task they are facing.
