Michelle Keegan and Mark Wright are one of the UK’s beloved showbiz couples – but their love story hasn’t always been a walk in the park.
The pair recently welcomed their first baby, a daughter called Palma, but first struck up a romance in 2012. Michelle – who is on Ten Pound Poms tonight (April 6) and Mark then tied the knot in 2015.
However, like most couples, Michelle and Mark haven’t had it easy. Here, we’re taking a look inside the obstacles the pair have faced.
Michelle Keegan and Mark Wright in spat with ex
Just nine months after they met, Mark got down on one knee in September 2013. The proposal took place on a Dubai holiday.
Michelle confirmed the news on Twitter: “Thank you for all the lovely messages. And yes, it’s true. Mark and I are engaged! We are so happy.”
But as the news spread, Mark’s ex Lauren Goodger, who he was with for 10 years, posted a message on Instagram.
In a thinly-veiled dig at the pair, she wrote: “I’m not going to be the girl you marry. But I will be the girl you will be thinking of 20 years from now, while you engage in polite sex with your boring wife who fakes it to make you feel better about your receding hairline.”
While Michelle kept quiet about Lauren’s post, Mark later took to Twitter to ask Lauren to leave them alone.
But this only fuelled the fire. Lauren wrote in her magazine column: “Frankly, it was embarrassing that those tweets were made when he was on his honeymoon and I was away with my boyfriend having an amazing holiday.”
The feud between Lauren and the couple does seem to have come to an end, however, after she sent them well wishes following Palma’s birth.
Michelle on ‘really tough’ long-distance romance
It’s fair to say both Michelle and Mark are successful in their own right.
Michelle, shot to fame as Tina McIntyre in ITV’s Coronation Street – a role she played from 2008 to 2014. As for Mark, he became a household name thanks to his stint on The Only Way Is Essex in 2010.
But with both being so busy, it’s meant they have often spent months apart from one another.
In 2017, Michelle was based in South Africa to film BBC’s Our Girl. Meanwhile Mark moved over to the US to work as a host for Extra.
Talking about the time part, Michelle revealed it was “really tough” during an appearance on The Jonathan Ross Show.
“People said how did you deal with it and stuff. Thank God for FaceTime and things like that,” she said.
Michelle added: “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.”
Michelle Keegan and Mark Wright split rumours
As a result of Michelle and Mark enduring a long-distance relationship, the pair have been hit with split rumours for years.
In 2016, a source told The Sun during the filming of Tina and Bobby: “It’s been a turbulent first year [of marriage]. They have been apart much more than they have been together.”
Michelle was also spotted without her wedding ring at the time. However, the split rumours were quickly shut down as Michelle’s rep explained she removed the ring for filming and leaves it at home to keep it safe.
Heartbreaking deaths
Michelle and Mark have had their fair share of heartbreak too over the years. Recently, Mark’s beloved grandfather Eddie passed away in January.
Mark paid a full tribute, sharing a picture of himself and Eddie suited and booted and revealed the last words selfless Eddie said to his beloved grandson.
Mark’s grandmother, Nanny Pat, whose real name was Patricia Brooker, also passed away in 2015 after a short illness. She was 80 and was known for appearing in the early series of TOWIE.
Her funeral took place weeks after her death – and Michelle attended the service with Mark, comforting him over the sad loss.
Mark and Michelle’s break-in
In February, Mark and Michelle were left “traumatised” after the pair reportedly had to hide and lock themselves in a room following a break-in at their £3.5m mansion home in Essex.
Mark kept his heavily pregnant wife safe while they waited for the police to arrive.
Following Michelle and Mark’s break-in, detectives believe that the intruder gang were professionals, on the hunt for a “big score”.
They are thought to have broke onto the property’s grounds just after 6pm on Tuesday February 18.
A camera is believed to have detected the criminals making their way towards the house, with Mark and Michelle receiving phone alerts. Apparently, Mark then heard a patio window smash and the alarm go off.
“This has been a truly horrible thing to have happened to them. It is a very special time with their first baby on the way. This has been very difficult,” a source told The Sun at the time.
Watch Michelle on Ten Pound Poms on Sunday (April 6) at 8pm on BBC One.
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