Mark Wright's grandmother Nanny Pat has passed away aged 80 following a short illness. The TOWIE star died on Wednesday morning, her devastated family have confirmed.
A statement released in a statement to MailOnline on Wednesday, read: "Sadly our amazing, courageous and beautiful Nanny Pat passed away this morning after a short illness.
"We are overwhelmed by sadness, and the whole family ask for privacy at this horrible time."
Nanny Pat has passed away aged 80
The sad news comes as the family including Mark Wright and Michelle Keegan, Jessica Wright and their cousin Elliott enjoyed a trip to New York together. Jessica had shared several photos from the holiday on Instagram, writing that she had an "amazing time" on Tuesday evening, just hours before her grandmother's death.
Nanny Pat was a much-loved star of TOWIE, and had celebrated her 80th birthday during an episode of the ITVBe show in November, with a royal wedding themed party in Surrey.
Pat leaves behind five children, including daughter Carol Wright, 14 grandchildren and six great grandchildren – all of whom she was incredibly close to.
Nanny Pat was the grandmother of Mark and Jessica Wright
The 80-year-old was especially close to Mark and had attended his wedding to Michelle in May, which featured exclusively in HELLO! magazine. In fact, Mark had recently opened up about his relationship with his grandparents, saying that they had raised him to be "polite and a gentleman".
"My nans have taught me to respect women," he told HELLO! magazine. "They would tell me off for swearing. My grandparents made me be polite and a gentleman."
Neither Mark, Jess nor Elliott has commented on their grandmother's death. The sad news comes ahead of the broadcast of The Only Way is Essex: Essexmassy special which is due to air on Wednesday night. It is currently unclear whether the special will still go ahead or whether Nanny Pat appears in the episode.