Joey Donald Essex is an English television personality. From 2011 to 2013, he made appearances on the ITV reality series The Only Way Is Essex. In 2013, he participated in the first series of 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 series The Jump.
Education
He attended West Hatch High School. Essex left school in 2006 having received a U in Drama, a C in Art and a D in Wood Tech at GCSE. Ten years later, as part of a TV programme, he proudly added a D in GCSE General Studies, commenting that "I still don't really know what GCSE stands for."
Career
Television
Essex first appeared in The Only Way Is Essex as a supporting cast member in the second series with his cousin Chloe Sims, but was then promoted to a main cast member in the third series. In 2011, the TOWIE cast recorded and released a single titled "Reem". In 2013, Essex competed in the first series of Splash! where he was eliminated during the "splash-off" in the second heat against television presenterCharlotte Jackson. On 13 November 2013, it was announced that Essex had quit The Only Way Is Essex. Essex also appeared in the thirteenth series of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!, and was voted out on 6 December 2013 after 20 days in the jungle, finishing in fourth place. 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. In 2016, ITV announced that the series has been picked up for a seven part second series; the series aired in the summer of that year with the first episode titled "The Queen's 90th Birthday". In 2015, Essex won the second series of Channel 4's reality show The Jump in 2015, and in 2016, Essex took part in the E4 reality dating series Celebs Go Dating. It was later confirmed that Essex would return to the show for its second series in 2017. In 2017, he ranked in fourth place on the Essex Power 100 list, being named the fourth most powerful person in Essex. In 2018, Essex was a guest in the fourth series of BBC One's Michael McIntyre's Big Show. In 2020, Essex appeared on the second series of , as well as MTV's Celebrity Ex on the Beach.
Other ventures
On 8 March 2013, Essex launched a hair products range, Joey Essex: D'Reem Hair. On 23 March 2013, he opened his shop Fusey in Brentwood. The shop closed in 2016. On 12 September 2013, Essex launched two fragrances, Fusey aftershave for men and My Girl perfume for women. In February 2016, Essex appeared in adverts for BatchelorsCup-a-Soup. In May 2017, it was announced that Essex would be launching a clothing line titled DAFDEA.
Personal life
Essex was engaged to fellow TOWIE cast member Sam Faiers, but later split up. They reconciled later in 2012. He then proposed to Sam again in March 2013 and she accepted. However, the couple split up again on-screen in June 2013 following several arguments between the pair. In October 2014, they announced they had split up "for good". Essex, whose mother committed suicide when he was ten years old, has been an ambassador for Child Bereavement UK since 2014.
