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BOMB-CHELLE
Michelle Keegan admits she ‘doesn’t know where she will finally settle with Mark Wright’ as their careers come first
THERE’S an argument that, in many ways, Michelle Keegan and Mark Wright are victims of their own success.
As their respective careers have taken off – hers as one of the UK’s most popular and in-demand actresses, his as a rising TV star in the States – it’s meant long spells apart with no prospect of a resolution in sight.
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“Where’s home?” says Michelle, clearly at a loss. “I’m a bit all over the place, so at the minute I really don’t know. I’m staying in an apartment in Manchester and I’ve unpacked, so I suppose that’s my base. Mark’s still in LA, so I’m not in Essex.
“If I need home comforts I go to my mum’s, and that’s where my dogs are. Any down time I have I go round to my mum’s for dinner, so on balance, to be fair probably my mum’s is home.”
Over the next three months, Michelle, 31, is committed to filming upcoming Joe-Gilgun-penned Sky1 comedy Brassic in Manchester while Mark is over in La La Land going great guns as a correspondent on US magazine show Extra.
Where they’ll eventually end up once life is more “settled” (as Michelle puts it) is a question neither is able to answer.
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Michelle Keegan opens up about her life and career at fashion event in Manchester
“Me and Mark are having this conversation and we don’t know where we’re going to settle. He loves it over there, but I don’t think we’ll ever live there [permanently].
“I love it, too – I like the lifestyle – but I’m a home person. I love my home comforts and being around my mates, my family. The idea of not being able to drive and see them scares me a little bit.”
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Michelle Keegan shares a real snap of herself without make-up or airbrushing to show what she really looks like before makeover on glam shoot
She says they try to stick to a rule that means they don’t go longer than three weeks without seeing each other, but admits that can be tough to enforce.
“Yep, it’s hard. And for the next three months I won’t be able to go and see him at all because I’m contracted to work. So he’s going to come home to see me because he’s able to shift things around.”
The long separations have led to speculation about their three-and-a-half-year marriage, especially heightened if either is ever pictured without their wedding rings.
Michelle rolls her eyes and smiles wryly.
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“I don’t wear my rings when I’m filming and that’s normally when [I get photographed without them]. It’s ridiculous now how long those stories have been going on for – it started as soon as we were married.
“No one knows how much we see each other because we don’t publicise it. People say: ‘Ah, they haven’t seen each other for ages,’ but they don’t know. Mark sometimes comes home for a weekend and no one knows he’s even there. Over the years we’ve learned how to do that and I’ve definitely become more private.
“I’ve given up commenting on it because I really don’t need to. My marriage is my business and that’s what I think. Honestly, I promise, I don’t even read about it any more. It’s private and I don’t care if someone thinks it’s bad that we’ve got different careers. Yeah, we have! And I’m proud of that.”
It’s fighting talk from Michelle, but there’s only a hint of exasperation in her laid-back tone. She’s easy-going, straightforward and inherently normal, despite her exceptional circumstances, fame and its trappings.
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Michelle Keegan is gobsmacked as she learns her great-great grandma was a suffragette on Who Do You Think you Are?
Since leaving Coronation Street four years ago, she has starred in some of the biggest dramas on British TV. Her portrayal of Tina Moore in the mini-series Tina And Bobby won critical acclaim, and her role as army medic Georgie Lane in the BBC hit Our Girl saw her scoop Best Actress at this month’s TV Choice Awards.
And Mark has proved any doubters wrong, too, by making the leap from TOWIE to prime-time American TV – one of the toughest industries to crack. No one could have predicted that.
“I did,” says Michelle, quick as a flash. “When Mark puts his mind to something, he will go and do it no matter what. I remember it was around April last year, before I went away for Our Girl, we had a conversation about what he was going to do and he said: ‘I think I should go and try in America.’ And I said: ‘Go on then, get a flight and go. I’m going away anyway, so do it.’
“I knew as soon as he went he was going to land a job, and he did. He’s done amazing and I’m really proud of him.”
If people want to judge me, fine. I’d never take it personally now
Michelle Keegan
The “huge commitment” it takes to film Our Girl is something Michelle says she’ll have to bear in mind before signing up if there’s to be a fourth series. She was away in South Africa, Malaysia and Nepal for the best part of last year.
“It’s in talks at the minute, so I don’t know if I’d go back. I loved that job and it was such an amazing experience, and I feel really lucky to have been part of that. But I was away for eight months last year so it’s a long filming schedule – we filmed 12 episodes back-to-back and it was really intense doing six-day weeks every other week and working 14- or 15-hour days. They did say if it was to go again it wouldn’t be as long.”
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Mark Wright shares video of Michelle Keegan and his mum Carol dancing at Soccer Aid afterparty
Despite regularly attracting more than 3million viewers for the show, Michelle has faced criticism for committing the cardinal sin of looking excessively glamorous for a war zone. Her apparently too-perfect eyebrows have come under particular scrutiny. Michelle finds it all completely bizarre.
“For some reason people think make-up isn’t allowed in the army, and it’s madness. I mean, why not?
“As women it always comes down to how we look, and, yeah, it’s been a bit frustrating. You know, I go on Twitter and it’s more focussed on my tattooed eyebrows rather than my performance. You work so hard and get great feedback from the military and the medics who get in touch and say what a good scene that was or whatever, and then you get someone saying I shouldn’t have my eyebrows done. That’s frustrating. I try not to listen to it.”
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An appearance on The Andrew Marr Show to promote the drama also prompted a backlash when Michelle dared to voice an opinion on government funding for the armed forces, saying they should “pump more money in”.
Does she feel the attacks were born out of sexism?
“Yeah, exactly.”
She adds: “It was my opinion – that’s what I think.
"I don’t regret it. I’ve got friends in the military and I believe that so I’ll say it. A few years ago these things would have affected me much more, but as you get older you become more confident and you know who you are as a person, and so I don’t let it bother me.”
She does bite back sometimes, though.
“Oh, I do! Sometimes I just have to. But it all comes with the territory and I get that now.”
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Michelle Keegan wows in a bikini as she cuddles up to husband Mark Wright as they set sail on holiday in Spain
While she wants to be known primarily as an actress, Michelle has a lucrative fashion sideline with Very and . She says she manages to juggle the two careers quite easily and has found a balance where one doesn’t stifle the other.
“We combine the two and it falls into place naturally. When I was away last year filming Our Girl, the one day I had off I would do the shoot for Very – the team would fly over and do the shoot in Kuala Lumpur.
“WhatsApp is an amazing thing, and so we’re in contact the whole time with the buyers sending me pictures, even down to the hand-stitching of the garments. And if there’s anything that I don’t like – a sleeve or a collar or the colour of the fabric – then we change it. It all slots in.
“Acting is where I started and it’s still number one, but as time has gone on, my passion has grown for fashion and it gives me something else to focus on. It’s a relief.”
Michelle genuinely loves the clothes – the rule is if she wouldn’t wear it, it doesn’t go in the collection.
“It’s all stuff I’d wear. I love any kind of animal print so there’s lots of that, but the bold geometric prints I tend not to. Like, layers and frills are a big trend, but I prefer things that are a bit more simple.
“I’m really excited about this collection. I love the cosiness of winter fashion and layering with snuggly jumpers, suit jackets and coats.”
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Michelle Keegan urges government to spend more on army on The Andrew Marr Show
With so much going on, it’s no wonder the self-doubt she says she suffered when stepping into the unknown after leaving Coronation Street is long gone. She’s never looked back.
“It took me a long time to decide to leave Corrie, like about two years. So for me I knew it was the right time and I’ve not regretted it once. If I hadn’t left when I did then I never would have, and I didn’t want to look back and think: ‘What if?’
“I had a lot of self-doubt: ‘Can I do this? Am I going to do it justice?’ And I didn’t jump into a job straight away – I waited for the right script to come along. It took a good six months and I remember being really nervous throughout that period. But when I got the script for [2015 BBC1 drama] Ordinary Lies, I knew that was it and I’d found my next role.”
Feeling sociable
Favourite platform?
Instagram. I love scrolling through the pictures.
Fave accounts?
– I lie in bed at night and have a look through to plan what I’m going to eat the next day.
I also love and get a lot of fashion inspo from that.
is another one I check out.
Who influences you?
Rosie Huntington-Whiteley wears a lot of tailoring and makes everything look classy. And J.Lo for make-up.
Funniest on Twitter?
My friend .
Are you on Facebook?
I was but someone pretended to be me, took all my pics and got me wiped off. Rude!
How do you take the perfect selfie?
It takes me an hour to get right, hence I haven’t got very many on my feed.
Turning 30 last year was a real milestone. Michelle says she was able to let go of a lot of her insecurities and care less about the opinions of others.
“I’m mentally stronger. I think your 20s are your growing-up stage where you find out who you are.
I genuinely felt different when I turned 30. I just feel more relaxed and happy with myself. More content.
“If people want to judge me, fine. I’d never take it personally now.”
- Michelle Keegan’s clothing collection is available exclusively at .
- Hair: Stefan Bertin at Frank Agency using Wella EIMI
- Make-up: Emily Clarkson at Creatives Agency using Laura Mercier
- Styling: Tracey Lea Sayer
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