James Buckley believes his new show ‘White Gold’ depicts Essex correctly, unlike ‘The Only Way is Essex’.
The 29-year-old actor believes the new comedy programme, which explores the life of a working-class salesman and his team in the 1980s and sees him play the role of Brian Fitzpatrick, is the best perception of the county, as the popular ITVBe reality show portrays an area he doesn’t "recognise".
Speaking about the BBC Two sitcom, James – who grew up in Dagenham – said: "It’s much closer in feel to the Essex I know of optimistic working-class people trying to make a living.
"The Essex you see on TV at the moment on shows like ‘TOWIE’ isn’t one I recognise."
And the writer of the show, Damon Beesley, has agreed with the ‘The Inbetweeners’ star and has acknowledge that people only associate Essex with "vajazzles".
In an interview with the I newspaper, he said: "People have the image of Essex as filled with slightly orange people who go to the Sugar Hut nightclub and have vajazzles (crystals or glitter applied on a woman’s private body part), the place I grew up in was full of incredibly quick-witted, confident, sharp characters."
The forthcoming sitcom is due to be aired later this month and also features ‘Gossip Girl’ star Ed Westwick as the main character Vincent, who will do "anything" to progress in his career.
The 29-year-old heartthrob said: "It helps that he recognises his flaws and also that he really enjoys his bad behaviour. He’ll do anything to keep going to where he needs to go, even if he’s not always sure exactly what it is."
However, the dark-haired hunk has admitted he struggled getting used to the vocabulary in the script, although he soon became engrossed in the storyline.
He added: "I read the script then had to re-read it because I wasn’t sure what I was reading. But the more I read, the more I was absorbed."
James Buckley slams The Only Way Is Essex for false depiction of Essex
