''Essex Wives'' was a television documentary series about married women socialising together in

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

, England. It ran for a single series in 2002 and launched the career of

Jodie Marsh Jodie Louisa Marsh (born 23 December 1978) is an English media personality, model and bodybuilder. She has appeared on numerous reality television shows, including '' Essex Wives'' (2002), ''Back to Reality'' (2004), '' Love on a Saturday Night ...

Format

The

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: Television TV stations/networks/channels ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network and company, including: **ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network in the United Kingd ...

programme featured the daily lives of a number of women, including

, which led to her subsequent career. The show used the nickname ''golden triangle'' to describe the settlements of

Chigwell Chigwell is a town and civil parish in the Epping Forest District of Essex, England. It is part of the urban and metropolitan area of London, and is adjacent to the northern boundary of Greater London. It is on the Central line of the Londo ...

Buckhurst Hill Buckhurst Hill is an affluent suburban town in Epping Forest District, Epping Forest, Essex, within the Greater London Urban Area and adjacent to the northern boundary of the London Borough of Redbridge. The area developed following the opening ...

and

Loughton Loughton () is a suburban town and civil parish in the Epping Forest District of Essex. The town borders Waltham Abbey, Theydon Bois, Chigwell, Chingford, and Buckhurst Hill, and lies north-east of Charing Cross. For statistical purposes ...

in the

Epping Forest district Epping Forest District is a local government district in Essex, England. It is named after the ancient woodland of Epping Forest, a large part of which lies within the district. The district covers northeastern parts of the urban area of London ...

upon which the series was centred. The area is well known for its high property prices and relative affluence of its residents compared to the national average. Several properties are owned by professional footballers; their spouses, as well as others of a similar stature, have been referred to as

WAGs Wag generally refers to tail wagging by dogs. Wag, Wags, WAG or WAGS may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * Wag (band), a Japanese rock music group, active 1998–2006 * Wag, a character in ''Kabumpo in Oz'' (1922) * Wags the Dog, a m ...

by the

tabloid press Tabloid journalism is a popular style of largely sensationalist journalism, which takes its name from the tabloid newspaper format: a small-sized newspaper also known as a half broadsheet. The size became associated with sensationalism, an ...

. They are relatively rich, but do not work regularly and chose to spend most of the day socialising instead. The programme featured stereotypical activities of these women, such as visiting

Jacuzzi Jacuzzi is an American private company that manufactures and markets hot tubs, pools, and other bath products. It is best known for the Jacuzzi hydrotherapy products. The company is headquartered in Irvine, California. It is the largest hot tu ...

nail bar Nail or Nails may refer to: In biology * Nail (anatomy), toughened protective protein-keratin (known as alpha-keratin, also found in hair) at the end of an animal or human digit, such as fingernail * Nail (beak), a plate of hard horny tissue a ...

s, tanning, shopping at

Prada Prada S.p.A. (, ; ) is an Italian luxury fashion house founded in 1913 in Milan by Mario Prada. It specializes in leather handbags, travel accessories, shoes, ready-to-wear, and other fashion accessories. Prada licenses its name and branding ...

or performing

yoga Yoga (UK: , US: ; 'yoga' ; ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines that originated with its own philosophy in ancient India, aimed at controlling body and mind to attain various salvation goals, as pra ...

. It was criticised for giving an inaccurate portrayal of Essex life; towns elsewhere in the county such as

Halstead Halstead is a town and civil parish in the Braintree District of Essex, England. Its population of 11,906 in 2011 Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in northeastern Essex, England. It is the second-largest settlement in the county, with a population of 130,245 at the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 Census. The demonym is ''Colcestrian''. Colchester occupies the ...

or natural features such as the

Colne Valley The Colne Valley is a steep sided valley on the east flank of the Pennine Hills in the English county of West Yorkshire. It takes its name from the River Colne which rises above the town of Marsden and flows eastward towards Huddersfield. ...

do not generally exhibit the behaviour seen on ''Essex Wives'', including "white stilettos, shiny leatherette handbags or ankle chains". The series pointed out that Chigwell has ten beauty salons and four nail bars, and said that some of the wives had decided to seek modelling jobs for their young children.

References

{{reflist, 33em 2000s British reality television series 2002 British television series debuts 2002 British television series endings Epping Forest District ITV (TV network) original programming