Ian Wright returns with the second season of Invite Mr Wright, where he is welcomed by the locals in India, Singapore, Japan and other countries. The globetrotting Englishman visits the monks in Gangtok, cooks with a top chef in Singapore and meets Shu, a woman who runs an orphanage in Vietnam. When we caught up with the artist and theatre performer he couldn’t stop talking about his crazy experiences in India. Read on:
I would love to be in a funny movie with a little bit of Bollywood dancing. I want to wear glitter and be the bad man with this deep eyeliner all around my eyes and a bulgy beard. I want to be a baddie or a zombie. The good thing about India is that you’ve got absolutely everything under the sun-every kind of humanity, landscape (be it mountains, beaches, wildlife) and cuisine. It has everything that would satisfy any desire of travelling. The cuisine is just out of control. I can eat spice in the morning because if you’re from England, you can eat spice anyway. We can’t get enough of it. We love it. I will be back.
In the second season, I’m more off the leash. I can express more opinions and make relationships deeper as well. It’s more refined and much more focused. In Okinawa, Japan, we were with a football team who weren’t doing well. So, I had to be their lucky mascot. But then I realised I was rubbish at football. So I trained with them. Later on I had this huge foam ball that I had to wear, to cheer them up to win.That was exciting. Then, I was in Singapore, the first time that I’ve ever been in the kitchen with the top chef of Singapore, in the top restaurant of the biggest and newest hotel in the country. I got a week to train to be a chef. I didn’t realise what hard work it was and then they judge me at the end. The less said about that, the better.
I was always messing with the monks (who showed us around), getting them in headlocks and rubbing their heads at the Rumtek monastery in Sikkim. Then I was sent to the head office because I was accused of bullying the monks. So I got told off, and had to do a little penance there, that was quite funny. Of course, at the end they had to train me up and shave my hair. I try and find time to paint on every trip. The most inspiration I get is from being in the mountains and moody weather. Invite Mr Wright premieres on March 26 , TLC at 8 pm.