Mark Wright admitted the pressure to start a family with Michelle Keegan was ‘hard work’ as couple focused on their careers – after actress hit back at ‘sexist’ questions about their private life
Mark Wright admitted the prospect of starting a family with actress wife Michelle Keegan was ‘hard work’ – eight years before she announced her pregnancy.
The couple, both 37, announced in separate Instagram posts on Sunday that they will welcome their first child together in the new year.
But Mark had previously insisted he would wait ‘a year or two’ before starting a family with former Coronation Street star Michelle, who he married in 2015, with the couple opting to put their careers first to place.
Appearing on Loose Women in 2016, he said: ‘It’s hard work with the pressure of having babies.’
The former TOWIE cast member admitted that a lot of the pressure came from his own family, as well as the expectation that any children they have will inherit their good looks.
He joked: “We’re going to give birth to an ugly duckling and let everyone down.
Mark Wright admitted the prospect of starting a family with actress wife Michelle Keegan was ‘hard work’ – eight years before announcing her pregnancy
Appearing on Loose Women in 2016, Mark insisted he would wait ‘a year or two’ before starting a family with former Coronation Street star Michelle.
“Aunt Debbie is the first of the sisters to become a grandmother and she tells my mother every day that being a grandmother is so much better than being a mother.
‘So now my mother is on our case. Hurry up and make it happen, I want to be a grandma.’
He added, “I think we still have a year or two of her nagging and we just have to deal with it. When she gives birth, there will be 300 Wrights around her.”
Michelle also revealed her ‘frustration’ at the constant questions she received about her baby plans.
In 2021, she also told You Magazine, “I’m used to people asking me, but that’s no one else’s business.
‘No one else knows what happens behind closed doors. I think that’s why this question affects me so much – it’s very private!
“Mark gets asked about it every now and then, but I get asked about it every time.”
When asked if her family still asked her about her plans, she admitted: ‘Not anymore! People don’t mean any harm by it, but they know what the answer will be.”
Michelle previously revealed her ‘frustration’ over the constant questions she received about her baby plans with Mark
During a 2019 interview, Michelle, who was 32 at the time, spoke of her “frustration” at constantly being asked, saying, “Nowadays you shouldn’t be asking questions like that.”
She said: ‘They don’t know the background of what’s happening. It’s no one else’s business.
‘I get so frustrated. I am asked purely because I am a woman. But I’m immune to it now – it’s like a reaction and as soon as I hear it I brush it off because it’s no one else’s business.’
The Netflix actress and TV host confirmed the happy news in a joint Instagram post on Sunday, sharing a sweet photo of Michelle cradling her blossoming bump.
They captioned the post: “2025 will be a special year for us…”
Former Coronation Street star Michelle married Mark in May 2015 and the couple live together in a country house in Essex that they built from scratch.
The actress announced the happy news on Sunday that she and her husband are expecting their first child together
Heart Radio presenter Mark, who shot to fame in the ITVBe series TOWIE, is already an uncle to footballer brother Josh’s two children and sister Jess’s son and has spoken over the years about his desire to one day become a father himself.
Michelle’s pregnancy comes a year after she starred in the Netflix drama Fool Me Once, which became one of the streamer’s most-watched shows of all time.
In the Harlan Coben adaptation, Michelle played military pilot Maya Stern and was an instant global hit, racking up more than 98,200,200 views in its first 91 days.
She started her career in ITV’s Coronation Street, where she played Tina for six years before leaving the Cobbles in 2014.
Her first serious role after the soap was in the BBC drama Our Girl, which aired the same year she married husband Mark, who left TOWIE in 2011 after three seasons.
In recent years she has also starred in the historical drama Ten Pound Poms, filmed in Australia, and the Sky TV comedy Brassic.
Michelle’s pregnancy comes a year after she starred in Netflix drama Fool Me Once, which became one of the streamer’s most-watched shows of all time