As he prepares to be a dad for the first time, Mark Wright has revealed that he is going through a mixed bag of feelings. ‘I’m very excited, nervous and excited,’ he tells Closer.
The former TOWIE star, 38, is set to welcome his first child with actress wife Michelle Keegan, 37. They announced their baby news in December, with a post on Instagram, saying, ‘2025 is going to be a special one for us…’
While fatherhood will be new to Mark, he’s already had some practice with his three nephews – Joshua, three, Dustin, two, [whose dad is Mark’s brother Josh] and sister Jess’ son Presley, two.
‘I love my nephews more than anything in the world,’ he reveals. ‘It was when they came around that made me realise how much I want kids because they say when you have kids, you’ll never feel love like it. Well, I’ve never felt love like I have with my nephews. It’s the best feeling in the world.’ The star adds, ‘So if that’s anything to go by, I’ve got a huge amount of love coming into my life.’
Mark’s father ‘Big Mark’ adds, ‘Mark will be an absolutely fantastic dad. I can’t wait!’
The father and son duo, who starred in A Wright Family Holiday in 2023, share a very close bond. Mark says, ‘My dad is the first person I turn to for advice. We live five minutes apart. I moved out to the countryside, and they followed me about five years later. So now I can’t get away!’
Their club nights out have now been replaced by pubs and football matches. ‘We still go out all the time. But it was getting hard because of my hearing difficulties,’ Big Mark says.
Asked about the key to their relationship, Mark says, ‘We’ve got respect for each other and we do our best not to argue. We’re always going to bicker with family and we have from time to time but at the end of the day, he’s my dad so we would never let that go longer than 20 minutes.’
Being as close as they are, it was Mark who urged his 69-year-old dad to get his hearing tested by Boots hearingcare after a decade of struggling to hear. Big Mark has been wearing hearing aids for seven weeks. ‘It’s been a life-changer,’ he reveals. ‘With the hearing aids, I can hear my grandkids talk little sentences, which is great. Now I’ve got them, I’m at the forefront of conversations whereas before I’d sit back and listen.’
Mark remarks, ‘There’s been a massive difference. I’ve noticed he’s much more engaged in conversations. We went for a dinner the other week with all the family and he was more involved in the conversation than he’s ever been. He was so talkative, I had to ask him if he was drunk. But now I can’t say what I really think about him because he hears everything I say!’
The Wrights are supporting Boots Hearingcare’s ‘Do It For Them’ campaign, raising awareness about the importance of hearing health and the impact it has on family connections. For more information or to book your free test today, visit www.bootshearingcare.com