Gogglebox star's brother shot and stabbed after he joined deadly London gang
A Gogglebox star has told how his brother was shot and stabbed after joining a deadly gang when they were younger.
Marcus Luther, who appeared on the Channel 4 show with his partner Mica Ven for five years, spoke about his past growing up in Croydon, which even today has been dubbed the knife capital of London. Although he never got into trouble with the police himself – despite being in a gang “for a week” – the 40-year-old said that, where he is from, “everybody gets in trouble with the police, even family members”.
Describing what happened to his brother ahead of appearing on a new reality show which sees celebrities banged up with real-life cons, Marcus said: “All my friends have been stabbed, shot or whatever.
“My brother was in a gang and he has been stabbed and shot at. It happens. Even I was in a gang for a week, but I realised it wasn’t for me. I knew that I didn’t want to go to prison and let people down.”
At one point during his stint in a gang, Marcus said he was asked to take part in robbery but he chose not to – and he believes it was growing up having a dad around that was the main difference between him and other peers who turned to a life of crime.
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Marcus and partner Mica were on Gogglebox for five years (Channel 4)Marcus told The Sun: “Having a dad that played a big part in my life really helped because when I see a difference between me and other young men that I know have chosen other paths, a lot of the time there’s no dad around.”
Determined to make a difference, Marcus now runs a boxing school for kids in Mitcham, south London in a bid to keep them off the streets. He said the reason he wanted to take part in new Channel 4 show, Banged Up, is “to see why young people keep re-offending, especially in the black community”.
Other famous faces joining Marcus behind bars include ex-EastEnders star Sid Owen, who played Ricky Butcher in the BBC soap, shamed Tory MP Neil Parish, Friday Night Dinner and Plebs actor Tom Rosenthal, controversial journalist Peter Hitchens and singer and ex-Strictly Come Dancing star HRVY.
Marcus with his Banged Up cast mates including EastEnders' star Sid Owen (Channel 4)Speaking to the Mirror last week, Marcus – who is a father to sons Shiloh, 24, and Yashua, 14, who are both boxing champions – revealed he slept with a knife beneath his pillow in prison after being forced to share a cell with a terrifying inmate. For eight days, the 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. Within a couple of days, Marcus said he began to do things that were completely outside of his character in order to protect himself. ”First night I slept with him [in cell with inmate Kevin], I had one of those plastic knives under my pillow. 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.”
He added: ”That’s not me. I had no intention of stabbing anyone. But I was like, I am prepared to kill this man, and that was my second night in there.”
*Banged Up starts on Channel 4 on Tuesday October 31
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