26 October 2023 , 13:35
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Gogglebox’s Marcus Luther has revealed that he slept with a knife beneath his pillow in prison, after being forced to share a cell with a terrifying inmate for a radical new TV show.
The beloved Channel 4 star is one of seven British celebrities to appear on Banged Up, an upcoming four-part series about the impact of the UK prison system on the individual and society. The brainchild of Shine TV, viewers can expect to see public figures like MP Neil Parish and EastEnders’ Sid Owen incarcerated at the decommissioned HMP Shrewsbury to experience just what life inside is really like. For eight days, the seven celebrities will be forced to follow the orders of ex prison officers and live alongside reformed convicts, all of whom have agreed to behave exactly like they would have when they were in prison.
With the intent of making the ordeal feel as authentic as possible, all participants – no matter how influential or powerful – will be treated like any other inmate during their stint behind bars. Marcus signed up for Banged Up with noble intentions, hoping to infect the wings with his positive energy and pacifying disposition.
Having grown up as a Black male in a deprived area of England, the boxing gym owner was no stranger to seeing how the nation deals with crime and punishment. While he had never been prison before, Marcus' cousin has previously spent time inside while his brother was once stabbed. He had also been stopped and searched by police on multiple occasions himself, despite having had nothing on him. It was these experiences that motivated him to appear on the show, in the hope he could raise awareness of the issues with the current UK prison system and be a positive influence on those currently inside it.
Marcus Luther stars alongside Sid Owen and Tom Rosenthal in Banged Up (Colin Hutton / Channel 4)"I grew up in a rough part of south London, everyone goes to prison, apart from me. I was like, 'How can I help? How can I use my platform to do more?'," he explained to the Mirror. On his first day in the prison experiment, he can be seen refusing to yield to other prisoners' pressures to join their gang and attack another inmate.
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He even repeatedly pledges to "bring the light" in the midst of the mayhem, almost like a mantra to soothe his nerves and dispel the aggressive atmosphere. In reflection, however, Marcus admits this strategy was "cringe" and that rather than easing tensions, it only worsened his relationship with the other inmates. "It infuriated them," he admitted. "It made everyone feel like I was superior to them. That wasn’t the point I was trying to get across. It came across wrong, got me into more problems."
Marcus Luther and Mica Ven are two of Gogglebox's most loved personalities (Channel 4)Within a couple of days, Marcus began to do things that were completely outside of his character in order to protect himself. After being assigned a particularly intimating cellmate named Kevin, he was so concerned for his safety that he stashed a weapon in his bed.
"First night I slept with him, I had one of those plastic knives under my pillow," he said. "I woke up and he was looking at me, 'You slept like a baby, you were so tired!' And I checked to see if the knife was there."
Despite having never been a aggressive person on the outside, the constant threat of violence forced Marcus to repress his friendly personality and switch into self-defence mode. "That’s not me. I had no intention of stabbing anyone," he said. "But I was like, I am prepared to kill this man, and that was my second night in there." It didn't take long for Marcus to realise just how powerful the inmates are in prison, with understaffing and overcrowding leaving the officers with little ability to restore order if, and when, chaos breaks out.
"You soon realise that if you wanted to take the prison, there is nothing the screws [the officers] could do," he explained. "It’s one prison officer per landing, and on one landing there’s about 100 people. And if they wanted to, they could burn the whole place down."
Banged Up begins Tuesday 31st October on Channel 4.