Loose Women star hits out at Mark Wright and Michelle Keegan over lavish Christmas lights

By Michael Moran, Features Writer

Michelle Keegan and Mark Wright showed off their Christmas decorations (Image: Getty)

With December starting this week, many people are thinking about putting their Christmas lights up. Rylan has already posted a photo of his epic outdoor display and celebrity couple Michelle Keegan and Mark Wright were not far behind, posting a video of the epic illuminations on their huge Essex mansion.

But Loose Women star Carol McGiffin was not at all impressed. While she concedes that a gaudy set of Christmas lights might seem “magical” to a child, these days it seems to be “the preference of people with more money than sense.”

She writes in Best magazine that many of these people go so far as paying for professional lighting companies to come and do the job for them, adding that some celebrities with large social media followings get discounted or even free decoration services in exchange for a promotional Instagram post.

Mark showed off the couple's elaborate Christmas decorations (Image: Instagram/Mark Wright)

“Last week,” Carol says, “actress Michelle Keegan and hubby Mark Wright put up a post of their perfectly lit-up Essex mansion - as if any of their followers would go, 'oh that's a great idea, let's spend next month's mortgage payment on paying this company to decorate our house!’”

The tradition of exterior Christmas lights began in the USA in the early 20th century, but even a century later there’s still some resistance to the idea. In the Hampshire village of Chawton, best known for having been the home of Jane Austen, there’s a Christmas lights controversy raging right now.

Carol explained that a local resident has written to the parish magazine to object to some houses in Chawton being adorned with brightly-coloured festive lights. They suggested that only white lights should be allowed.

Carol McGiffin said that external lights were a bit 'OTT' (Image: ITV)

That complaint, says Carol, “backfired brilliantly when a entire close covered their houses in multi-coloured flashing lights.”

In the US, where the outside Christmas lights tradition began, celebrities have taken the illumination craze to ever-greater heights: Hollywood star Jamie Foxx is notorious for his ostentatious Christmas lights.

The Django Unchained star spared no expense with his elaborate decorations, which included garlands of lights leading down into the garden – where much of the ground appeared to have been replaced with a red carpet.

In case his gaudy display wasn’t bright enough already the pillars of his front door were transformed into giant candy canes, and snowflakes at the top of the property.