Mark Wright has broken his silence after it was claimed he'd been sacked from ITV after quitting its new show The Games.
It was reported the TOWIE star, 35, had told producers he didn't want to take part in the sports reality programme at the last minute - by text.
However the Heart FM DJ reckons nothing could be further from the truth.
Taking to Instagram responding to the story, Mark wrote: "Refrained from commenting on this nonsense story for over a week because it's nonsense and there's plenty much more important stories to worry about in the world.
"Because it's constantly being repeated, here's my comment. I'm absolutely not banned from ITV, in fact I'm doing a show for ITV three months from now.
"The show that 'I quit' hadn't even signed a contract for!
"I 'called' the producer not text to tell her I'd had a change of heart on the show because I realised I'd had too many other commitments already to make it work.
"The media outlet who wrote this are not to blame. They can only believe what the person who is making this up is telling them."
Mark, who run his own fitness app with his brother Josh, was supposed to take part in the new show, which will be hosted by Holly Willoughby and Freddie Flintoff.
He had reportedly been in Manchester on February 15 with Corrie's Colson Smith, who is also taking part, for a fitness assessment and day of filming.
However a source told The Sun last month: "He [Mark] was in great spirits on the day in Manchester but the following morning he appeared to have had a change of heart.
"Mark's excuse was that he was basically going to be too busy to commit, which to some feels absolutely incredulous given he'd already committed to filming.
"Those working on the show aren't sure what is harder to swallow, the fact he dropped out so last minute or the fact he decided to send a text rather than call in the first instance."
The Games, which will put celebrities through their paces in a range of sporting challenges is expected to air later on ITV this year after it was pushed back because of the coronavirus pandemic.
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