‘Stop worrying about Lucy’
Michelle Keegan’s pals reveal she’s annoyed Lucy Mecklenburgh is “living her old life”
She’s come a long S way since her soap star heyday, swapping her home in Manchester for acting roles abroad and uprooting to Essex with husband Mark Wright.
But insiders say that since leaving Corrie three years ago, Michelle Keegan, 30, has been getting increasingly upset over seeing TOWIE star and former love rival Lucy Mecklenburgh, 26 – who is dating Michelle’s former co-star Ryan Thomas – live the life she used to have.
According to sources, Michelle – who was good friends with Ryan as well as Brooke Vincent and Sacha Parkinson – can’t help but feel awkward at seeing her old pals hang out with Lucy.
A source says: “Ever since Lucy got with Ryan and started hanging out in Manchester with all her friends she can’t help but feel like Lucy is stepping into her shoes. There’s no love lost between her and Lucy.”
The pair have a history of tension after Lucy – who briefly dated Mark, 30, in 2010 – got with Michelle’s ex-fiancée Max George from The Wanted in 2013, and even claimed Max was better than Mark in bed. Mark angrily hit back at Lucy on Twitter at the time, calling her “nothing but a kiss and tell girl with no class.”
The pal says: “To Michelle, it seems like Lucy has been chasing fame. It was as if Lucy was trying to get one up on her as Michelle was with Mark. Michelle thought she was rid of her when she split with Max, but now it’s like she’s back in her life.”
Last week, Lucy was pictured with Ryan, 33 – who is rumoured to be joining Australian soap Neighbours – at the Olive Tree Brasserie in Chester, near where a lot of Michelle’s old friends are known to hang out, including Kym Marsh, 41, and Samia Ghadie, 35. Meanwhile, Michelle has had to spend long periods of time in South Africa, where she’s been filming the third series of Our Girl.
Closer reported in April how Michelle had banned Mark – who left for LA last week for his latest presenting role – from going to the Coachella music festival to avoid bumping into Lucy, who he eventually ran into at an event in LA later that month. Representatives for Mark were forced to deny that he had argued with Michelle over the meeting, claiming that Michelle was not “remotely upset” to find out they’d crossed paths.
The source adds: “Michelle trusts Mark, but friends say she’d rather not have Lucy around her mates. Mark’s told Michelle to stop worrying about Lucy and just ignore it.”