Secrets of the Gypsy King and Queen of Morecambe: £70million Tyson Fury shops at Aldi and queues for fish and chips. His wife Paris pushes two trolleys around Asda to feed their seven children... and the people love them for it

The letters arrive by the sackful each week, addressed simply to: ‘Tyson Fury, Morecambe.’

They come from all over the world: messages from young fans, congratulations cards, heartfelt confessions about mental health struggles, even the odd marriage proposal.

And they all find their way to the door of the £1.7 million redbrick manor-house — bedecked with stone lions, eagle sculptures and a huge ‘Gypsy King’ insignia on the drive — where Tyson, who lives there with his wife Paris and their seven children, insists he reads every single one.

For Tyson Fury, 35, the flamboyant, outspoken, 6ft 9in man-mountain of a boxer, is so synonymous with this Lancashire seaside town that everyone knows where he lives. As he likes to put it, he’s Morecambe’s ‘most famous attraction’.

Certainly, aside from comedy legend Eric Morecambe, who so loved his hometown that he changed his surname to match it, you don’t get many famous faces around these parts.

The Furys have been a fixture since 2011, making them — in Paris’s words — ‘part of the local fabric’. Residents have got used to seeing her tiny blonde frame steering two trolleys up and down the aisles of Asda every week.

'Gypsy King' boxer Tyson Fury, 35 - who tonight takes on Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to win £80million - pictured with wife Paris in 2015

They like to high-five Tyson on his jogs along the seafront, chat to him at the chippy on a Friday night, and cheer on his sons at the amateur boxing club. This is Fury Town, somewhere the larger-than-life family — whose net worth exceeds £70 million — say they feel at home, shielded from the spotlight, and able to go about their lives.

And so as the undefeated twice heavyweight world champion gears up to take on Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, tonight, in one of the richest fights in history (Fury is set to take home £80million — just over $100million — and Usyk £35 million), there’s a mixture of nerves, excitement and pride flickering in the Irish Sea air.

‘He has been amazing for the town,’ says Hannah Townson, 24, a supervisor at The Morecambe Hotel, where the extended Fury clan are regulars for the £35 Sunday roast platters.

‘We have people coming to the hotel who are just after the opportunity to see him around town. He’ll always take the time to speak to people.’

Michael Wallworth, 18, who works in The Hurley Flyer, the Furys’ closest pub, describes the boxer as ‘a dead nice guy’.

‘He would buy a lot of drinks for everyone and he’d always wait for his change,’ he says of times he’s served Tyson in the past. ‘He wasn’t flash at all.’

The couple pose with their kids for documentary At Home With The Furys that aired last year

The family live in the seaside town of Morecambe - and residents often note seeing Paris' tiny blonde frame steering two trolleys up and down the aisles of Asda every week

Donna Laud, 35, a cleaner in the town, agrees. ‘I see him in Asda, Home Bargains, Aldi — he’ll be there with his wife and children, just a very normal bloke.’

They’re words Tyson would love to hear. The boxer prides himself on being a ‘normal bloke’, the type who goes to his local to watch the football (he’s a staunch Morecambe FC supporter) on a Saturday, prides himself on doing the school run, and professes to love putting the bins out.

On why he doesn’t live in a bigger city, his answer is always the same. ‘I love Morecambe and if I didn’t, I wouldn’t live here,’ he said in an interview last year.

‘Usually what happens is, when someone makes a few quid, they want to move from where they were originally and they want to get away from who they are.

‘Me? I made a few quid and I stayed exactly where I was.’

He hasn’t moved far from where it all started, either. Born in Wythenshawe, south Manchester, to Irish traveller parents, John and Amber Fury, Tyson grew up in nearby Styal, Cheshire.

The Furys’ love affair with the seaside began soon after their 2008 marriage. They’d met at a wedding in 2005 when Tyson was a 17-year-old tarmacker and amateur boxer, and Paris a 15-year-old waitress from a traveller family in Doncaster.

The Furys met at a wedding in 2005 when Tyson was a 17-year-old tarmacker and amateur boxer, and Paris a 15-year-old waitress from a traveller family in Doncaster. The couple tied the knot themselves three years later

Their first home as a married couple was a 24-foot caravan, in Tyson’s Uncle Hughie’s back garden, where their eldest children, Venezuela and Prince, were born.

But by 2011, craving more space, and Tyson having turned professional, they upgraded to a two-bed bungalow in Morecambe.

‘We’d both become quite fond of the town,’ explains Paris, in her 2021 autobiography, Love & Fury. ‘Although the weather could be pretty wild and windy, we liked the idea of living by the sea.

‘The town’s off-the-beaten track location appealed to us, too. We wanted to raise the kids in as normal an environment as possible, and we felt this might be difficult if we moved over to Cheshire, for example, home to many famous footballers and soap stars.’

It’s this sort of sensible, forward-thinking attitude that Paris, 34, has brought to bear on her husband of 16 years, reining in the chaos and juvenile behaviour to which Tyson can be prone.

He is not a character without controversy. His opinions on homosexuality and abortion (which in 2015 he compared to paedophilia), plus vile, misogynistic comments about athlete Jessica Ennis-Hill, female boxers and ‘a woman’s best place’ being ‘in the kitchen and on her back’ have been condemned.

Fury has apologised, saying some remarks relate to his reading of scripture. In 2016, he said: “I said some things which may have hurt some people, which as a Christian man is not something I would ever want to do.” ’

It is his wife Paris, explains Christine Newby, a former neighbour, who acts as the ‘glue’ that holds the family together.

‘She always looks a million dollars and her children are beautifully behaved. I honestly don’t know how she does it,’ she says.

‘We had one of the little boys over to look at the lambs in the field behind our house, and we still take parcels over to their house for them.’

Tonight, the Newbys are hosting a late-night get-together to watch the fight, hoping, too, to catch a glimpse of Paris, who will be standing proudly ringside.

Jade Turner, 28, a stylist at Vogue Hair and Beauty in the town centre, is another local with nothing but praise for the Gypsy Queen. Doing Paris’ hair, she says, has ‘opened up a lot of doors’.

‘She is an inspiration,’ Jade says. ‘I don’t know how she manages. Sometimes she would come in with the children and they were good as gold.’

Tyson Fury's former neighbours John and Christine Newby (L) and Barry Light always watch when the Gypsy King is fighting

With seven offspring (four boys and three girls) and rumours of another on the way (Tyson recently wrote that his wife looked ‘a little bit pregnant’), there are miniature Furys, aged between eight months and 14 years old, everywhere.

As Paris puts it: ‘Becoming parents is the best thing in the world.’

In between stints on Loose Women and promoting her latest book, aptly named How Does She Do It?, she’s a proud stay-at-home mum.

She is outraged by suggestions she employs a housekeeper, claiming: ‘I choose to tackle the vast majority of chores myself, with a little help from Tyson and the kids.’

Raising seven children takes up most of her time, especially as — per traveller tradition — her eldest two, 14-year-old Venezuela and 11-year-old Prince, are homeschooled by a tutor, having dropped out of education after primary. The others will do the same.

She claims not to have any help but does rely on a babysitter, 25-year-old local girl Gabrielle Briggs, who lends a hand when Tyson is training abroad.

However much Tyson Fury wants to remain a ‘normal bloke’, there are certain trappings of fame and fortune which Morecambe locals can’t ignore.

The private jets, fleet of supercars (including a £190,000 luminous green Lamborghini, a £250,000 Ferrari and two Rolls-Royces) the designer suits, solid gold fittings around their home . . . all revealed in garish detail on the family’s acclaimed Netflix series, At Home With the Furys, one of the most watched shows in the UK in 2023.

The heavyweight fighter is no stranger to flashy cars and jewellery since making a fortune on the back of his boxing brilliance

In one room of their sprawling home, there is a rendering of Michaelangelo’s Sistine Chapel fresco on the ceiling. Another features golden thrones with red velvet cushions, while the lounge has a wall displaying Tyson’s trophies, boxing belts and photographs from his fights.

With all his successes, inevitably, comes attention; something Tyson, who has publicly battled alcoholism and depression, as well as living with bipolar disorder and ADHD, struggles to cope with.

Former neighbour Barry Light, 78, a retired pilot instructor, says it sometimes gets ‘too much’ for the boxer – and led to the family upping sticks in 2021 and moving across town to their current home.

‘You’d have people here hanging around, taking pictures on his driveway, ringing his bell, and they’d do it at all times of the day and night,’ he recalls.

‘I think Tyson felt that as he was away so much, he wanted somewhere more secure for Paris and the children.’

And while the vast majority of Morcambians are Fury fans, there’s no denying that their wealth and status contrasts starkly with the everyday lives of most.

Behind the penny arcades and B&Bs that line the promenade are some of the most deprived streets in England. More than a fifth of children here live in poverty and thousands rely on food banks.

Last year, Morecambe — the original ‘Crap Town’ in author Sam Jordison’s damning 2003 almanac of urban blight — was ranked one of the UK’s worst seaside towns, and gritty ITV crime drama The Bay, set here, has done nothing to improve its reputation for crime and delinquency.

The Furys are doing their bit to change this. Their Netflix documentary put the shabby town back on the map; John O’Neill, manager of the Morecambe Business Improvement District, says the publicity had had a ‘marked effect on visitor numbers’.

A new Eden Project, costing £100 million and promising more than 1,000 jobs, is in the planning stages, aimed at ‘reimagining Morecambe for the 21st century’.

On the seafront, there’s an art installation dedicated to the man himself, with an image of his face and the words: ‘I’ve realised that I have to be me, no matter what.’

Down at the Morecambe and District Boxing Club, where seven-year-old Tutty Fury and five-year-old Adonis Fury usually attend thrice-weekly training sessions, coach Paul Fielding, 57, describes Tyson as a ‘wonderful role model’ for local youth.

‘Yes, he’s a massive celebrity, but first and foremost he’s a dad and a husband,’ he adds.

‘When he collects his kids from their sessions here, he’ll wait outside with all the other parents. Paris is the same. They don’t expect to be treated any differently.’

The boxer recently insisted on shooting a video for his energy drink, Furocity, at the club, which earned them £2,000.

‘We can have up to 40 kids here,’ says Paul. ‘It brings discipline and keeps them off the streets.’

Many of the youngsters in the ring are from traveller families, a sector of this community which feels particular gratitude to the Furys for dispelling anti-traveller feeling in the town.

Last year, Mellishaw Park traveller site, where around 90 people live permanently, was awarded a £1 million government grant for redevelopment.

Tyson embraces Paris having won his world heavyweight bout against Dillian Whyte at Wembley in 2021

Resident mum Daisy Lee, whose child George, eight, is in son Tutty’s class and has flown out to Riyadh to watch the fight, says the boxer is a ‘hero’ to them.

It’s a sentiment widely shared. On a grey, drizzly weekday on Morecambe’s Marine Road, there is no shortage of locals eager to share their own Fury anecdotes.

Tricia Mae, 63, waiting in the beauty salon for a pre-holiday wash and blow-dry, met the boxer in a shop with two of his children.

‘I was struggling to read a label without my glasses, and he came up out of nowhere and said he’d read it for me,’ she says.

But will the Furys really stay in Morecambe for ever?

Speaking last year, Tyson admitted: ‘I don’t think it’s our forever home. My forever home has lots of land and maybe a couple of mountains, a lake, that sort of thing.’

Paris, too, has spoken about moving away, perhaps to Europe or America, when her husband retires — a changing target.

Asked how he’ll celebrate if he wins tonight’s landmark clash, the boxer has suggested something suitably down-to-earth: a pub crawl around the town. Several bars have extended their licences until 6am so regulars can watch.

Down at Keegan’s cafe, owner Nelli is saving a special treat for her favourite VIP customer.

‘We’re looking forward to him coming back on Monday,’ she says. ‘He’ll be allowed a Caramel Heaven slice.’