GROWING up in a deprived part of London, Marcus Luther saw teen pals and even his own brother get stabbed and shot – but he turned his back on a life of crime.
Now the former Gogglebox star, who runs a boxing gym to help kids stay on the straight and narrow, is experiencing life behind bars for the first time in new reality show Banged Up.
The Channel 4 series, which airs from Tuesday, sees seven celebrities – including former EastEnder Sid Owen and Friday Night Dinner star Tom Rosenthal – caged in decommissioned Victorian jail HMP Shrewsbury with a host of ex-cons.
Hidden cameras capture the terrified stars as they share cells with reformed murderers, gangsters and drug smugglers in a crowded wing where the constant threat of violence hangs in the air.
Marcus, 40, grew up in Thornton Heath in the knife-ridden borough of Croydon, south London, and says he signed up for the week-long stint inside to understand what drives young people to crime.
“I'm born and raised in a rough part of Croydon, a high knife crime area, and I've got a gym nearby in Mitchem,” he says.
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“I've never got in trouble with the police but I am from an area where everybody does and even family members do. All my friends have been stabbed, shot or whatever.
“I had a choice to get in the car and go do the robbery, but I chose not to.
“My original thoughts were, ‘If you do some crime, go to prison and don't start moaning about it. Your choices were no different than mine'.
“I needed to go in there to see why young people keep re-offending, especially in the black community.”
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9Gang life
Marcus – who shares his Gogglebox sofa with partner Mica Ven – was the youngest of six growing up on a poverty-stricken estate.
But unlike many of his childhood friends he had a stable family.
“Having a dad that played a big part in my life really helped because, when I see the difference between me and other young men that I know have chosen other paths, a lot of the time there's no dad around,” he says.
“Dad owned a building firm and mum used to work as a cleaner. She'd go out first thing in the morning and when we got up breakfast would be made. It was a lot of work for her.
“I had sisters and they were very strict on me. Everyone was very strict on me.
“That helped me as well but it was still a choice I made. 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.
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.”
Instead Marcus channelled his energy into working and says ambition kept him from straying.
“I was very motivated by business. I loved business and thought, ‘I cannot do the time, so I would never be the one to do the crime'," he says.
“Everybody I knew that was rich owned a scaffolding firm, a waste removal company or they had degrees, so I thought, that's how I can make money and I'm not going to have police breathing down my neck.
“I started working when I was 14 and I've never stopped since.”
Tears over son's bout
Now dad to two sons, Shiloh, 24, and Yashua, 14, as well as stepdad to Mica’s daughters Sachelle, 25, and Shuggy, 20, Marcus is passionate about giving kids the best start in life.
He uses his boxing gym to help nurture deprived youngsters.
“I say I've got a hundred kids now because they are all my kids. They all phone me when they want help,” he says.
“I encourage them a lot and they know as much as I love them, I will also be strict. I'm like, ‘I will give you a cuddle but I'll also tell you off’. I'll do a bit of both.”
The star – who quit Gogglebox in December after five years – has proved a great role model to his own sons, who are both champion boxers.
I bawled my eyes out because that's the first fight I've missed
His eldest Shiloh Defreitas – who competes under the name Sugar Shy – was underage European Champion at 14 and won the Youth Commonwealth Games in 2017.
Youngest Yash is also a promising fighter, and Marcus says his hardest moment inside HMP Shrewsbury was missing an important bout.
“While I was in prison for the show my youngest had his first fight for England, boxing in the Three Nations – between England, Scotland and Wales – and he won gold,” he says.
“I bawled my eyes out because that's the first fight I've missed and we've been training for a few years.
“I managed to get a phone in there, which somebody gave me, so I spoke to him and he said, ‘Dad I wish you were there. You should be enjoying this with me’. It made it so much worse.”
Threatened by lags
Despite knowing former jailbirds himself, nothing prepared Marcus for the terrifying week in the cells.
As soon as he enters Marcus is surrounded by a group of violent lags who demand he “G-check” another inmate – meaning checking out his convictions and credentials.
After refusing he’s cornered in a cell by the menacing group until he's rescued by a prison officer.
“I went in there thinking, I've done all my research about prison, I watched Shawshank Redemption and I knew you have to stand up for yourself, make sure you've got some balls and let nobody walk all over you,” he says.
“Then, before you know it, they turn you into their bitch.
“I consider myself a tough guy but I only fight in the ring, boxing. But having to be something you're not was hard.
“I'm trying to play the tough guy but it was scary. When I came back out my wife said every time she was speaking to me, I was looking over my shoulder, and that isn't a good thing.
“You shouldn't have to be somebody that you're not just to survive.”
Marcus now believes he was “a bit pompous and arrogant” about the reasons people end up in jail and says his brief stint behind bars has been an eye-opener.
“I went in there thinking everyone should just do the right thing, but once I was speaking to actual people in that position, I got an insight into how the prison system works.
“There's a thing called recall, which means I could have had a short sentence for something when I was younger, and that is hanging over me for the rest of my life.
“So if I'm in a car with someone who has marijuana and the police pull me over, I could be called back to prison for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
Conversely, Marcus believes short sentences for minor crimes have worse long term outcomes than long sentences – and says inmates should get paid a minimum wage for the jobs they do inside to help their prospects on release.
“When you give somebody a small sentence, they will go out and re-offend, go back to jail and then do it all again. They'll end up doing 30 years in short stints,” he says.
“If you give them a 10-year stretch they end up doing less time behind the door. Prisoners have told me that themselves.
“Also they had me putting flatpack screws together for about £1.50 a day, but wealthy businesses profit from that.
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“If they earned minimum minimum wage and they put that money in savings, they'd be able to rent a place when they came out and wouldn’t automatically have to go back to crime.”
Banged Up airs on Channel 4 on Tuesday 31 October.
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