Mark Labbett, also known as The Beast on hit ITV quiz show The Chase, has split from his wife Katie after she had an affair.
Katie claimed that her affair started by chance, as she and Mark had been growing apart.
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Speaking to The Sun, she said her husband had been supportive of her new relationship and that the pair remain good friends.
“Mark and I had been talking about separating for some time – we have been drifting for a while,” she said.
“He works away a lot and that’s been hard. A lot of people think it’s the age difference but we don’t see that as the factor.”
At 26, Katie is 27 years younger than Mark – but she claims it was the lack of mutual friends and habits that led to the couple drifting apart, saying they have “different lives”.
Katie began seeing metal worker Scott Bate after meeting him on a night out, but claims she never tried to hide her affair from her husband.
“He knew I was going out and who I was seeing. He was incredibly understanding,” she said.
Speculation about the state of Mark and Katie’s marriage arose after The Sun published reports about a night out she had with Scott.
It was claimed the pair met back in 2017, and that Scott introduced her to his friends in the December of that year.
It wasn’t until Katie appeared on Loose Women, alongside her husband, that Scott’s friends realised she was married.
Mark and Katie, who have a one son, have reportedly put their Hereford home on the market.
They married in 2014, finding out after the fact that they were second cousins.
ED! has contacted Mark’s reps for comment on this story.
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