WRIGHT COUPLE
Months apart, kids questions & ‘crisis’ rumours… how Michelle Keegan & Mark Wright proved doubters wrong with pregnancy
The news finally puts to rest years of rumours and speculation about their family plans
THEY have been one of the most glamorous couples on telly, ever since they got together in 2012 – now Mark Wright and Michelle Keegan have cemented that status after announcing they’re having a baby.
The couple, who once confessed they want four kids, shared a touching post on Instagram, announcing the happy news, with a photo of the former Coronation Street actress cradling her growing baby bump on the beach.
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They captioned the picture: “2025 is going to be a special one for us . . . ”
But it hasn’t been all plain sailing for the pair after their careers forced them to spend months apart and they faced constantly having to bat away questions over why they had not had kids yet.
Plus rumours of “crisis talks” have dogged their decade-long marriage.
Mark and Michelle — both 37 — met behind the scenes on the X Factor in 2011, while they were both engaged to other people.
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Michelle, who also dated Emmerdale actor Anthony Quinlan and X Factor contestant Brad Howard, was planning a £250,000 wedding to The Wanted singer Max George.
Mark was with his on-off girlfriend of 12 years, Lauren Goodger — whose turbulent relationship was well-documented on The Only Way Is Essex.
Mark and Michelle have told how they then bumped into each other at many events but it wasn’t until a year later, when they both were single, that Mark asked Michelle out.
However they kept things under wraps, not making their first public appearance together as a couple until the British Soap Awards in 2013.
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But things moved fast and just a year later, while they were on holiday in Dubai, Mark popped the question.
The pair married at St Mary’s Church, Bury St Edmunds, in May 2015 where Michelle walked down the aisle, lined with 20 12ft trees and hundreds of flowers.
Mark Wright gives fans a rare look inside £3.5m mansion he shares with Michelle Keegan with video of staircase transformation
‘On a countdown’
The fairytale continued at the reception, held at nearby Tudor mansion Hengrave Hall, with the newlyweds apparently recreating the iconic lift from Dirty Dancing, as (I’ve Had) The Time Of My Life was played.
And for their honeymoon, they headed back to Dubai, staying in an incredible, £4,326-a-night, underwater suite at the exclusive Atlantis, The Palm hotel.
But the honeymoon period was soon over.
Mark and Michelle were forced almost immediately to turn their marriage into a long-distance romance due to their work commitments.
We say we’re going to try [for a baby] every year but something comes up with work
Mark in 2019
In June 2015, it was announced that Michelle would be taking over from Lacey Turner as the lead role in BBC Army drama Our Girl, requiring her to go to South Africa to film, while her new husband stayed in the UK.
The following series was filmed in Nepal but when it was all over and she was able to move back home, Mark had relocated to Los Angeles to pursue a presenting career in the States.
He even once admitted this was part of the reason he and his wife were yet to start a family.
In 2019, he told The Sun: “We say we’re going to try [for a baby] every year but something comes up with work.
“So it’ll be Michelle filming in South Africa and then I got the job in Los Angeles, so we think, right, we’ll try next year.”
Michelle has also spoken about the struggles they have faced being apart from each other but also how they managed to make it work,
On the Jonathan Ross Show, she said: “People said ‘How did you deal with it?’ and stuff.
“Thank God for FaceTime and things like that.
“You’re on a countdown the whole time to just get home.
“I had six months off when I went home, so I went to America.”
In another interview, on Fearne Cotton’s Happy Place podcast, she added: “We’re not the first to do it. And it is a job thing.
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“I had like two months alone but then he’d come out and stay with me for six weeks.
“It’s just having and finding that time for each other.
“I think that’s the main key but also letting us have our freedom to do what we wanna do career-wise.”
Mark moved home in October 2019, when he and Michelle bought their huge Essex mansion for £1.3million.
This became a project the couple spent more than three years on, completely renovating the house to make it their dream home, which features five bedrooms, a state-of-the-art gym, cinema room, outdoor pool and sauna.
With the house not yet complete, once again, in 2022, Michelle had to leave for months at a time, as she filmed Ten Pound Poms in Australia.
In an interview with The Observer last year, Michelle said: “I was filming in Australia and hadn’t seen the house for months.
“When I walked in, Mark had lit all the candles . . . I couldn’t speak for five minutes.
“He was like, ‘What do you think?’
“I couldn’t find the words to say how I felt, because I was so overwhelmed.
“I just burst out crying.”
Mark and Michelle’s mega-mansion is now reportedly worth around £3.5million, with Michelle saying their dream house is “about security” as “you never know when all this is going to end”.
It’s horrible. People don’t know if we’re trying. They don’t know the background of what’s happening.
Michelle on 'sexist' questions over starting a family
She told The Guardian: “It still gets me emotional.
“Because we’ve worked really hard for it.
“We’ve had to make a lot of sacrifices.
“I missed lots of milestones in my life due to work.
“Mark went to LA and we spent months apart, which was hard.
“But, it’s worth it.”
Over the years, Mark and Michelle have made no secret about wanting a large family.
In 2018, Michelle told Women’s Health: “I’ve always been broody.
“I love kids, and I want four, so hopefully in the near future.”
However, Michelle has faced the brunt of “sexist” questions about starting a family.
Earlier this year, she said: “It’s horrible.
“People don’t know if we’re trying.
“They don’t know the background of what’s happening.
“In this day and age, you shouldn’t be asking questions like that.
“I’m asked purely because I’m a woman.
“I’m immune to it now — it’s like a reaction, and as soon as I hear it I brush it off as it’s no one else’s business.”
She even told how she has had to stop her family from asking, adding: “[They don’t ask] any more!
“People don’t mean any harm by it, but they know what the answer’s going to be.”
Recently Mark and Michelle launched a new sportswear brand, Aytee7, with online retailer Very, seemingly ensuring their jobs will help them spend more time together.
The couple, once known for late-night partying in Ibiza, are happier with a night in these days.
On the Happy Place podcast, Michelle said: “I am happy to have a night on the sofa with our dogs watching TV and relaxing.
“In the old days we’d go out for dinner and drinks until the early hours.
“But now after dinner, I’ll look at my watch and say, ‘It’s 9.30pm, we’d better get back home for bed’.”
When asked what makes her and Mark so compatible, Michelle added: “I think just being best friends.
“I think just being friends and having that relationship.”
Mark has even compared his relationship to the epic romance between the characters played by Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams in love story, The Notebook.
Mark previously revealed: “Every single thing you imagine and you dream about falling in love with someone, I’ve got now.
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“I remember watching The Notebook, and I honestly feel like what Noah has got, I’ve got.”
Now their love story has an even happier ending.
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