Calling him “my best friend” and “my biggest supporter” for an Instagram post to celebrate their anniversary a few weeks ago, Michelle Keegan and her husband Mark Wright have appeared the picture of strength throughout their seven-year marriage as they’ve navigated their own careers – often thousands of miles apart.
But last week, Mark, 35, spoke candidly for the first time about the reality of spending months apart from wife Michelle, 35, as she films for new BBC drama, Ten Pound Poms, in Australia, admitting it has put “pressure” on their marriage.
The former TOWIE star said, “The longer you go, the more pressure there is because the longer it’s been.
“I was in LA and had dinner with Piers Morgan and I told him it was hard. He said, ‘I had this with my wife and we have a three weeks’ rule so we don’t let it go past three weeks.’
“It’s tough though with Australia, it’s a lot of flying.”
Mark wrapped up the filming for his own new series, A Wright Old Adventure, earlier this month, and flew out to Sydney after spending several weeks travelling around Europe.
However, while Mark has been sharing his Oz adventures, such as climbing Sydney Harbour Bridge and visiting a Thai massage shop, the couple haven’t been pictured together.
Now a source tells Closer that things haven’t been easy for the pair, saying, “On the surface, Mark and Michelle are maintaining that everything is fine – that they’re on the same page and are supportive of each other’s goals – but behind the scenes it’s not as easy as it seems.
“They’re both struggling with the fact that they’re often effectively living separate lives. They’re 100 per cent committed to each other and want to spend the rest of their lives together, but the distance between them is taking its toll.
“As much as he wants to see Michelle more regularly, it’s like they’re constantly playing catch-up with each other.
“When they finally do get on the same page, it’s time for one of them to fly off again.”
This isn’t the first time the couple have spent time apart in their decade-long relationship.
In 2017, Michelle travelled between South Africa, Nepal and Malaysia for eight months while filming for the third series of BBC military drama, Our Girl.
At the same time, Mark took a job on US celebrity show Extra, but after two years of living in LA, he admitted, “I would never be able to live away again. Michelle and I love being at home in England.”
The couple have also been renovating their £1.3million mansion in Essex, and while Mark and Michelle have called the extravagant pad their “dream home” and are documenting their renovation journey on Instagram, the source reveals that after almost a year and a half, their family and friends are starting to wonder why it’s still far from completion.
“There’s been a lot of pressure to move into their Essex dream home,” they said. “They’ve put so much money into it and the big question from everyone is, what’s stopping them?”
Questions over whether they will start their own family have also been hanging over the couple following their Suffolk wedding back in 2015.
In 2018, Michelle revealed, “I’ve always been broody. I love kids, and I want four, so hopefully in the near future.” But last month Mark said, “We’re not trying for kids yet, I’m gonna state that, however, hopefully one day we will have kids.”
The source adds, “They keep accepting more job offers that keep them apart.
“For now, both Mark and Michelle have agreed to weigh everything up when it comes to how much more they want to take on in their careers. They want to make sure it doesn't come at the expense of putting pressure on their marriage.”