Jessica Wright, along with her mother Carol and sister Natalya, have been forced to apologise after comments they made about women who opt to wear thong bikinis. It came after they were called out for the "degrading and disrespectful" comments describing the swimwear choice as "gross" on their Wright At Replica Luxury Handbag podcast.
In a recent episode, Jess, 40, said that her husband Will Kemp "hates" the look. She elaborated: "Will cannot stand it. He says to me 'I cannot understand how she thinks that's attractive'. Put it away and leave something to the imagination. Who wants to see up their butts?" Meanwhile, Carol, 65, said her husband Mark Sr finds them "unsexy".
Jess continued: "I can't stand how it's acceptable to walk around on the beach in a thong." This prompted Natalya, 25, to add: "Do you know what's worse, these girls who do wear them, fair enough if you're gonna wear them, at least if you're gonna bend over and put your towel over your bed, put a sarong on!"
However, it appears the comments struck a nerve when a clip of the podcast - which launched in November - was shared online. Many infuriated social media users pointed out that Jess, who rose to fame on The Only Way Is Essex between 2010 and 2016, used to frequently wear thong bikini bottoms herself, and one person described the conversation as "degrading and disrespectful".
© Dave Benett/Getty ImagesResponding to the criticism, Jess posted a public apology to Instagram on Tuesday afternoon. "In response to comments we made on our podcast. We've listened, we hear you and we want to say sorry," she wrote in the statement, which was also shared to Carol and Natalya's accounts. "Our judgement was wrong and we take full accountability and will do better moving forward. Love Jess, Natalya and Carol."
Jess married her husband Will in 2021, and they are parents to a son Presley, who was born in 2022. She made regular appearances on TOWIE alongside her younger brother Mark Wright, 39, who is now a radio presenter.
© Getty ImagesMeanwhile, Mark is married to actress Michelle Keegan, 38, whom he wed in 2015. The couple have a daughter, Palma, who celebrated her first birthday last week.
