Our Girl Michelle blasts marriage critics MARK IS STILL MY PRINCE... And we love watching The Cr own together

MICHELLE Keegan has blasted critics who say her marriage to reality star Mark Wright is in trouble and insists: “We’re better than ever.” The TV beauty has been plagued by rumours their relationship was on the rocks. And the gossip went into overdrive after she spent two months filming BBC drama Our Girl in South Africa last year. Former Coronation Street star Michelle, 29, who plays Corporal Georgie Lane, reckons the rumours will resurface when filming for the third series starts this year. Michelle, who enjoys cosy nights in with former Towie star Mark watching TV’s royal drama The Crown, said: “Why can’t a woman work away and have a separate career from her husband and still have a good marriage?

Trouble

“That’s the frustrating thing. What do people think goes on? Everything is fine with us.

“We have separate careers. Why is it a bad thing? I speak my mind and it gets me into trouble. “It’s so negative these days, it’s b****** s. I’m just a

normal girl. I’m just doing my job. I am married but I don’t have to sit at home. That’s the frustrating thing. It’ll happen again. Me and Mark know that.

“I’ve got to go away for work. But we know what to expect now. He will come visit me and it will be fine.”

Despite having to spend time apart, Michelle refuses to send Mark saucy snaps for fear her pictures might get stolen.

She said: “Oh for God’s sake, no. No we wouldn’t do that. People hack the iCloud.” The pair tied the knot i n 2015 after three years together.

Since leaving the soap Michelle has gone on to star in a string of hit dramas including Our Girl, where she replaced Lacey Turner, and ITV football series Tina and Bobbie.

She has just returned from a skiing holiday with Mark, 30, who she says is “very competitive”on the slopes.

Michelle said: “There was a big group of us. I brought my girlfriends. Some of them can’t ski, which was so much more fun. If you do it with a group of girls it’s so much better. We had such a laugh.

“I’m rubbish at skiing, though. Mark is so good. He’s good at any sports. He’s so competitive so he likes being the best.”

When they are not on holiday Michelle says she loves nothing more than being holed up in their Essex mansion watching back-to-back episodes of The Crown, the TV Netflix drama about Queen Elizabeth starring Claire Foy and Matt Smith.

Michelle said: “Me and Mark love it. We love doing things like that, cosy nights in.”

And Michelle admits they are enjoying themselves too much to have children just yet.

She explained: “I’ve thought about kids and we always say we want them but not yet.

“We are loving life. I’m 30 in June and I want to do something to celebrate it. Mark had about three parties, it lasted a month.”

Michelle won over the nation playing Tina McIntyre in Corrie and she says the role will never leave her.

But she dreams of starring one day in a period drama. She said: “I would love to be on Downton and a period drama. “People will always think of me as Tina in Corrie. I’ll never move away from that. But now people are starting to see me in other dramas and everyone is really positive.” Mark and Michelle attended the Brits awards together on Wednesday night when the actress looked stunning in a fitted blue jumpsuit.

But she insisted her slim figure isn’t down to dieting but rather doing everything in moderation.

She explained: “When I went skiing I was eating fondue and steak and ale pie and crepes.

“So now I’m back I’m trying to be good again. That’s what I do.

“I know people who do the 5:2 diet and they swear by it but I would get too hungry. I love food.

“I do exercise a lot. It’s the food though. I don’t drink much. I am on water now. I drink now and again but not all the time.”