Arsenal legend Ian Wright looks to be poised to embrace a change in his broadcasting career after deciding to step away from his role in BBC’s ‘Match of the Day’. The Englishman recently revealed that he would be leaving the iconic Premier League highlights show at the end of the season.
There is no real explanation for why this was going to happen, but Wright is going to leave the programme he joined 25 years ago! The ex-Arsenal star has had one of the most impressive transitions from the football pitch to a punditry career and set an example with his behaviour on and off the pitch.
Wright is already associated with numerous shows or podcasts, so leaving Match of the Day is not going to mean that fans are going to see him on TV. The Englishman has gained popularity for his insightful work for Sky Sports ‘Stick to Football’ podcast alongside legends like Gary Neville, Roy Keane and Jamie Carragher.
He also has his own ‘Wrighty’s House’ podcast that is pretty popular and has thousands of daily listeners for the same. Wright is likely to pen a deal with some other football broadcaster in the UK to offer his punditry and he also appears to be open to moving into the film industry!
Indeed, Wright appears to be set to make his Netflix debut in their upcoming film called ‘The Kitchen’. The film is co-directed by Daniel Kaluuya, a pretty popular Hollywood actor who is known for his roles in films like ‘Black Panther’ and ‘Get Out’.
The film is set to be released on Netflix on January 12, but football fans were left amazed by noticing a cameo from Wright in the recently released trailer. Towards the 1 minute 25 second mark of the trailer, Wright can be seen wearing a little cap and a slick dress for a second or two.
It appears that Wright will be making a cameo appearance in the film as a pirate radio DJ named Lord Kitchener. The Kitchen is a sci-fi film based on a Dystopian London where all social housing (housing provided to low-income groups by the government or non-profit organizations) are being eliminated, and how residents of a community named The Kitchen try hard to save them from the same.
Wright appears to be a funky DJ in the community who creates tunes for all the residents to enjoy. The film also features popular British DJ Kano (Kane Robinson) and currently has an 83% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
The ex-Arsenal star expressed his delight to be a part of this film soon after the release of its trailer, posting pictures of him attending the film’s premiere and writing on Instagram: “18 months ago, Daniel [Kaluuya] and Kibwe [Tavares] called and asked me to film myself and send some lines for the role of Lord Kitchener! Proud to not only be a small part of their work but to see them reach these levels.”
This isn’t exactly that surprising either, because Daniel Kaluuya is actually an ardent Arsenal fan. He actually also served as the narrator for the Arsenal ‘All or Nothing’ Amazon series and even hilariously dubbed all Arsenal fans as ‘wa*****’. The London-born Kaluuya probably became an Arsenal fan thanks to the heroics of Wright and co and that is why he probably wanted him to make an appearance in his film.
Wright is embracing the changes in his career with open arms and seems to be ready to dip into the acting industry if allowed to as well. It now remains to be seen whether he can impress fans with his acting in The Kitchen and bag himself a few more acting gigs in 2024.
