CROWDS enjoyed the height of entertainment when they joined TOWIE star Joey Essex on the gravity- defying rides at Brean’s fun city.

Joey, who became famous for ITV reality show The Only Way Is Essex, and also appeared on I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here, gamely went on five rides in a row together with fans who had entered a fun competition to join him.

Around 1,000 people turned out to see him on Saturday evening but the publicity for the event was even more of a success with social media hype surrounding the visit reaching 2.8 million people.

Delighted park manager Bryan Perry said: “It was a fantastic day. There were around 650 in the queue who wanted to meet him and Joey hung around and had pictures with them all. He was really good about that. He went on five rides, The Magic Mouse, Shockwave, X Factory, the Disco Dodgems and Wipeout which is a lot for anyone.

“People had won the chance to go on the rides with him and they all had a great time. It was great to see so many smiling faces. I was a bit of a fan of Joey’s before he came but I’m even more of a fan now I’ve met him as he was such a genuine person who took the trouble to make each picture a good one for his fans.

“I’m also delighted that we reached 2.8million on social media as that has really help publicity for the park.”

There was an online competition before Saturday’s event for people to win their place on the rides with Joey.

There was also a second chance to earn a place during Saturday by filling in an entry ticket when visitors bought their wristband.