As he parties in Magaluf and she cosies up to co-star, is Michelle Keegan and Mark Wright’s marriage on the rocks?
Happy honeymoon seems a distant memory for couple after turbulent first year living separate lives
RESTING her diamond- adorned hand on Mark Wright’s shoulder, Michelle Keegan looked every inch the fairytale bride.
Eager to share their happiness with the world, the newlyweds posted endless loved-up pictures of their honeymoon online to go with the big day’s megabucks magazine deal.
But 14 months on, the romantic beach selfies and snaps of tandem scuba dives seem a distant memory.
The couple, both 29, have not been seen together for six weeks and appear to be living separate lives, leading some to question whether it has all gone wrong for Mr and Mrs Wright.
One pal told The Sun: “It’s been a turbulent first year and they’ve been apart much more than they’ve been together.
“Things between them are pretty volatile. When you add it up they’re just not sharing time, a bed, meals, days out, or chilling together the way couples need to do.”
Earlier this week there were fresh reports the couple had fallen out after Mark’s very public bust-up with Danny Dyer.
He has since flown alone to party resort Magaluf — dubbed “Shagaluf” owing to its seedy reputation — where he has been seen DJ-ing for hundreds of bikini-clad young women.
And Michelle, who is working in Manchester, is not helping quell the rumours of the rift by regularly appearing without her wedding ring.
Last week the former Coronation Street actress was pictured without the £20,000 diamond-studded band as she went out for dinner with pals.
In June, she insisted she had not been wearing it because she feared losing it on set.
The move surprised friends, with one saying: “Whatever she says about her ring, if you want to show you love your husband and are firmly married, you put it on at any available moment. But let’s face it, it’s been more off than on.”
The star is in her home city filming new ITV drama Tina And Bobby, based on England football legend Bobby Moore’s first marriage, which lasted 24 years.
While she was on her night out, Mark was posting pictures of himself sunbathing at their Essex home, just a three-hour train journey away.
Spending time apart is becoming the only constant in their marriage.
Since their wedding in May last year, Michelle has flown to Bulgaria to shoot sexy scenes for ITV2 show Plebs, undergone a training bootcamp in Aldershot, Hants, and completed a two-month shoot in South Africa for BBC Army drama Our Girl.
Her work schedule took hold after the funeral of Mark’s grandmother and former Towie co-star Nanny Pat in January. Michelle was forced to leave her grieving husband days later.
She became close friends with her Our Girl love interest Luke Pasqualino and a picture emerged of her with her hand on her co-star’s chest.
Her wedding ring was, once again, conspicuously absent.
Even Michelle’s stunt-double Nadine Theron could not stop talking about the chemistry between Michelle and Luke, who plays an SAS commander.
She said: “The chemistry on set was fantastic and, you know, they had chemistry off set but they were just great friends and nothing more.
“It was all very nice to see that everyone got along so well.
“She got along with all the men really, really nicely and I can understand why — they were also really, really nice!”
Mark, no stranger to female attention himself, has insisted he does not mind his wife filming saucy scenes with Luke or anyone else.
He said: “It’s her job, isn’t it? I find it hilarious. If anything I try to wind her up because she gets more embarrassed and more nervous to see it played back than I do.”
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But friends claim Mark is not quite as laid-back as he makes out.
A source close to Michelle said: “He’s always feeling jealous and threatened and getting suspicious.”
Mark, who has not been pictured with his wife since July 17, flew out to see her just once in South Africa.
But he struggled to spend any time with her owing to her commitment to her role as Cpl Georgie Lane.
This saw her live as a real-life soldier to get into character. When Michelle returned home in May, she was soon off filming again.
In what appeared to be a tit-for-tat retaliation, Mark flew to Las Vegas for a boys’ holiday in June and was pictured topping up his tan with a gaggle of bikini-clad babes.
Later the same month, Michelle celebrated her 29th birthday by attending former Corrie co-star Ryan Thomas’s leaving party in Manchester.
Mark stayed away, claiming to be training for Soccer Aid, despite it taking place two days later — also in Manchester.
Ahead of Mark’s turn in the charity football match, the pair were seen having a bitter row.
Another factor reportedly causing tension is the pressure to settle down and have children — just when Michelle’s career is taking off.
Following her exit from Corrie in 2014, she has thrown herself into work and is now being talked about as the next Charlize Theron.
So she was upset when Mark’s sister Jessica told a magazine: “I can’t wait to be an auntie.”
Mark’s biggest money-earning deal is as the face — and torso — of Oykos yoghurt. Michelle and Mark have repeatedly denied there is anything amiss in their marriage.
In her blog this week, Michelle wrote she was looking forward to “spending time with Mark and our families” once filming ends on Tina And Bobby.
The couple employ personal publicists and work hard to dispel rumours the lucrative Brand Wright is on the rocks, and will no doubt react to this article with a series of “loved-up” tweets.
When their woes were reported in June, Mark tweeted a picture of a plate iced with “Happy Anniversary” along with the words: “Incredible anniversary weekend . . . The most perfect time in the most perfect place with the most perfect person.”
Whether they will still be celebrating next year remains to be seen.