TOWIE stars are ready, set and go for the London Marathon!

The annual London Marathon is fast approaching and three of the county's reality TV stars will be taking part to raise as much money as they can for their chosen charities.

On the 22nd of April, 'The Only Way is Essex' favourite James Argent, or Arg as he is better known, will be running the 26.2 mile course to raise money for Cancer Research UK. James will be joined by Billi Mucklow and Cara Kilbey, who will be running the marathon for Samaritans.

Cara and Billi training for the 26.2 mile run

Arg, who has famously battled with his weight on the hit ITV2 reality show, has promised his followers on Twitter that he has been cutting down on the junk food and focusing more on his training for the marathon. It has become a regular occurrence that James has tweeted about his latest run or bootcamp session.

On the other hand, his TOWIE competitiors Billi and Cara appear to have an alternative motive. In an interview with the Daily Star, Kilbey said that their training entails a run to the coffee shop, followed by a run to Billi's sunbed salon. Cara continued to say 'then [we] go back and treat ourselves with a nice wine'. Arg even tweeted just last week to say "@BilliMucklow @carakilbey have pulled out of a run 4 sunbathing! Shock!".

Let's hope that the girls will get some thoroughly-needed training in before next Sunday, when they will join Arg, hopefully crossing the finish line at the Mall. Good luck!

Why should there be doubts for hiring the Essex 'working class twang'?

Reports have said that around 70% of business leaders in a recent poll would have 'serious doubts' about hiring someone who spoke with an Essex 'working class accent', but people based in Scottish and Home counties have an accent that promotes 'hard work and success'. I'm sad to say that I'm not totally shocked by this news, but I still completely disagree with these opinions.

With the increase in popularity of the county, Essex finds itself in the media and in the press much more now than it may have done 5-10 years ago. With TV shows like TOWIE, a stereotypical image of Essex girls, and also the boys to some extent, has been portrayed but my opinion is that this image is not entirely true.

Yes, some people in Essex enjoy a spray tan or a session in a sun-bed.
Yes, some people in Essex will have hair extensions, fake eye lashes and fake nails.
And yes, some people in Essex do speak with this typical accent that you hear from the likes of Amy Childs and Sam Faiers.

But - you could find this anywhere! Take a look at Geordie Shore, Desperate Scousewives etc; all of these programmes feature the extreme characters of the region who fully portray the stereotypical image that adheres to the entertainment needs of the public. But take a look further into Newcastle and I'm sure they're not all like the characters from the hit MTV show. Similarly, in Essex, if you branch out, you can find some really beautiful areas that highlight the opposite side of the county that the public never get to see.

It must be remembered, that in TOWIE, a show well known for fitting into the 'dram-ality' genre, many of the scenes are set up for entertainment purposes. Whilst the characters are real people whose lives are fully documented in the show, many of the things we see would not happen in real life it wasn't for the producers asking certain questions and placing them in certain situations. (This isn't to say that the show isn't an entertaining and a hugely interesting watch on a Sunday and Wednesday evening.)

If somebody asked you, what do you think of when you think of Essex, you're likely to answer with the orange tans and hair extensions that you witness in TOWIE. It is debatable whether anybody would consider the top-class education available in Essex. Colchester County High School, King Edwards Grammar School and Chelmsford County High School are three of the country's best schools, with the highest attainment on the League Tables. The latter two, based in Chelmsford, have become so popular that they've had to enforce a tighter catchment area, as so many people across the wider areas of Essex and into London have been applying for places and attending the schools.

So why is it that businesses are feeling reluctant to hire people from Essex? With the best education available across the whole country, businesses should be recognising the intelligence that Essex holds and should be revelling in the talent available to them.

If you take a look at the huge successes that have come out of Essex, it is clear that the county boasts an enormous amount of talent that shows the large capability of people from Essex, that is not being fully understood by these companies:

Olly Murs, Pixie Lott and Jessie J are three of the biggest names in pop in 2012 and continue to progress in the music industry with #1 singles and albums.

Jeff Brazier, Denise van Outen and of course Dermot O'Leary are three of the country's most successful TV presenters, with Dermot even presenting the E! Coverage of the BAFTAs last night, broadcast around the world. You can't be much more successful in the industry than that.

Everybody knows Jamie Oliver, one of the country's most recognised and best-loved chefs, as well as being  Britain's second biggest selling author.

And Essex is even progressing across the pond. Russell Brand and Nick Frost, both Essex boys, have starred in hugely successful films, both in the UK and the USA.

If these names don't promote the hard-work and success previously mentioned from the Scottish and Home counties, I don't know what does.

Everybody in Essex should embrace their accent and be proud of their Essex origin, as it seems clear, success can come from the county, despite the views held by some companies and journalists.

Denise & Lydia take to the Delhi desert

Next month will see Essex girls, Denise van Outen and Lydia Bright, travel to India for what is set to be one of the toughest journeys of their lives.

The pair will be tackling a 289-mile bike ride across India, starting in Delhi and travelling across Rajhastan, the largest state in India. The girls will be challenging hot and sandy deserts, barren rural towns, as well as travelling through some of the biggest cities, such as Jaipur, otherwise known as the Pink City for its infamous architecture, and Agra, home to the Taj Mahal.

It's not every day that you hear of two Essex girls cycling across the terrain of India, but this is all for such a good cause that they couldn't possibly turn it down. Great Ormond Street Hospital is one of the world's leading children's hospitals, giving treatment, care and hope to children suffering with often life-threatening conditions, both to children from the UK and from across the world. The charity need to raise over £50 million a year in order to maintain the hospital, keeping it refurbished to maintain a comfortable haven for ill children, as well as to provide the most up-to-date and innovative care required to battle such complex illnesses.

The shortest journey that the model and presenter, Denise, and TOWIE star, Lydia, will be facing is likely to be a massive 5 hours, and this could stretch to a staggering 9 or 10 hours. The pair must be very brave to tackle such difficult conditions in India, but they know that they are doing it in order to help those children that continue to be the bravest people in the country who need the help of Great Ormond Street. 

Lydia & Denise: their recent visit to Great Ormond Street Hospital

To support the girls, please visit their Just Giving page donate money to this wonderful charity:

Denise & Lydia - Just Giving

2011 Essex Round-Up!

As we draw close to the end of 2011, reflecting upon the year, Essex has played a bigger role in the media than ever before.

With the continuous influence of The Only Way is Essex in the media, or TOWIE as it is better known, Essex has been finding common ground in day-to-day life across the country. ‘Shuuut-Up’, ‘well jel’, and who could forget Joey Essex’s signature word ‘reem’ have all been widely recognised not just in Essex but throughout England and the UK. It’s difficult to watch the television for one week and not see one of the TOWIE characters popping up on chat shows or game shows. Some of our favourite TOWIE characters have even left the show to appear on reality TV, with Amy Childs appearing on Celebrity Big Brother, placing fourth, and of course Mark Wright just losing out to McFly’s Dougie in the I’m A Celebrity final.

Dougie’s bandmate Harry Judd, born in Chelmsford, had a very successful 2011 as he lifted the Strictly Come Dancing glitterball this month. Alongside dance partner Aliona Vilani, he fought off competition from Waterloo Road’s Chelsee Healey and Jason Donovan to claim the top spot.

This year has seen the country fall further in love with Essex boy Olly Murs as he jumps from one success to the next. Starting off the year by trekking across the Kaisut desert in Kenya for Comic Relief alongside 8 other celebrities, including fellow Essex boy Dermot O’Leary, Murs’ year began with a bang. The sound of the summer was Olly’s ‘Heart Skips a Beat’ featuring Rizzle Kicks, which reached the number 1 spot in August. Olly’s third number 1 single came in December with ‘Dance With Me Tonight’, which he also performed on The X Factor this year. One of Olly’s biggest successes this year would be his weekly role on ITV2’s ‘The Xtra Factor’ alongside Caroline Flack. The pair have been heavily praised by the media for what many people would argue has been the best series of Xtra Factor to date. 2012 should be an even bigger year for Witham’s Murs as he starts his first ever Arena tour in February, which kicks off in Cardiff before moving to The O2 Arena.

Another huge success story from Essex in 2011 has come from Romford, birthplace of popstar Jessie J. After starting the year as BBC Sound of 2011 and as the Brits Critic’s Choice, big things were predicted for Jessie J. With 4 Mobo awards and a #1 single in ‘Price Tag’, these predictions were very true. It has been recently announced that Price Tag was in the Top 3 of the most downloaded songs of the year. It was also announced this year that Jessie J would star as a judge on new BBC One talent show ‘The Voice’, where she will star alongside Tom Jones, Will.I.Am and Danny O’Donoghue in the new year.

Other Essex singers who have been successful this year include Pixie Lott, whose single ‘All About Tonight’ entered the chart at #1. Also, Matt Cardle has had a successful year following winning the X Factor in 2010, with The Guardian calling his album ‘Letters’ the best of 2011. 

Each year the X Factor gives us a fantastic contestant from Essex, with Matt Cardle, Olly Murs and Stacey Solomon coming to mind, and this year has been no exception with one quarter of winners Little Mix coming from Essex. Jesy Nelson, from Romford, was put together with Perrie, Leigh-Anne and Jade at bootcamp and was mentored by Tulisa.

2012 is set to be an even bigger year for Braintree’s Louie Spence, who was this year announced to be a judge on ITV’s Dancing on Ice. The new series is set to begin in January.

Lets hope that this time next year, there will be even more news about these Essex stars and many more new faces who will appear across 2012. Happy New Year to everyone in Essex and beyond!