Hugh Grant left fans slightly surprised after he jokingly referred to former reality TV star Mark Wright as “riff-raff” in a new interview they conducted together.

30 year old Wright is a former cast member of ‘The Only Way Is Essex’, also starring in ‘I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here’ and ‘Strictly Come Dancing’, and is married to acclaimed actress Michelle Keegan. He has since moved to America, after landing a presenting job on the Extra channel.

He sat down with the veteran English actor Hugh Grant this week to discuss his latest movie Paddington 2, which has been out in cinemas for several months in Britain but is only just being released in the States.

“Now Hugh, I'm from London too. But we speak a little different. I'd say people from my neck of the woods would say you speak like a royal compared to me, right?” said Wright to his guest.

Mark Wright Michelle KeeganMark Wright with wife Michelle Keegan

Grant replied, tongue firmly in cheek, “You're riff raff. It's nice of me to talk to you at all.”

More: What would ‘Harry Potter’ have been like with this alternative cast? [archive]

Fortunately, Wright took the comment in the manner in which it had been intended, taking to his social media accounts afterwards to post a clip of the interview. He wrote: “Haha love this !! When you do your best to speak posh for Hugh Grant and he still calls you riff-raff!! #royal #riffraff @extratv.”

Hugh GrantHugh Grant

Wright’s fans reacted in a slightly puzzled manner to the interview, with more of them asking why he had seemingly altered his accent for the conversation rather than objecting to Grant’s use of the term ‘riff-raff’. They also wondered why he said he was from London, rather than from Essex.

One poster summed it up by commenting: “That new posh accent is crazy... haha your posh voice... what has happened to Mark’s Essex accent? He sounds so different?!”

More: Michelle Keegan speaks out on rumours of marriage problems with husband Mark Wright [archive]