Yahoo News Inbetweeners star says TOWIE "idiots" are "irritating"
It might have just aired its 20th – yes, 20th – series, but the appeal of The Only Way Is Essex will always be lost on some.
Take actor James Buckley – best known for playing Jay on The Inbetweeners – who hit out at TOWIE "idiots" in an interview with Digital Spy.
Buckley stars in BBC Two's new sitcom White Gold, about double-glazing salesmen in 1980s Essex, and insisted that the show better represents the county than the antics of Chloe Sims and co.
"We're making a sitcom – we're not trying to make something that's hyper-realistic, or true-to-life," Buckley said. "But I do feel this is a much more honest portrayal of people in Essex than TOWIE."
Buckley, who also lives in Essex, went on: "I've never ever watched a second of it, at all, whatsoever. I know that there's a place in TV for those sort of things, and people like watching it, because it's easy to watch.
"Having said that... it does irritate me, the whole TOWIE thing. And I sort of do feel sorry for them as well, because I know for a fact that they'd rather be pop stars, or taken seriously as actors, but they've just taken this real quick route into being famous.
"Nowadays, it's not even that people want to be famous because you get rich. It's just people wanting to be famous. I can't imagine that they earn a lot from the TV show – I'm sure their other endeavours are probably their main source of income.
"But it's just bizarre that you want to be represented that way on television – as stupid, overreacting, crying at your relationships... I can't imagine ever doing something like that, publicly. There isn't enough money in the world to make me air my laundry out like that. I just don't understand it at all."
Buckley insisted that he's "proud of being from Essex" – which is why, he said, ITVBe's wild reality show bugs him so much.
"Those people on TOWIE don't represent where I'm from, or where I grew up, or my friends and family and the people that I love, who are good, hard-working people – funny people, sharp, intelligent, so quick-witted…
"When I think of Essex, that's the kind of people that I think about, and that's who I would like to be associated with. So I do take it personally... not just because I feel like they're misrepresenting me, but they're misrepresenting the people that I love, who are important to me."
Blimey. Might we suggest trying Made in Chelsea instead, James?
Buckley's sitcom White Gold begins tomorrow (Wednesday, May 24) at 10pm on BBC Two. The series reunites him with Inbetweeners co-star Joe Thomas, with the pair playing two hapless salesmen working with Ed Westwick's suave boss Vincent.
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