The Chase's Mark Labbett splits from wife after open marriage didn't work out
The Chase star Mark Labbett and wife Katie have separated after seven years of marriage, saying their age difference and open marriage took a toll on the relationship.
The 55-year-old married nurse Katie, 28, in 2014 and the couple share a three-year-old son.
However, they split temporarily last year after she admitted having an affair with 30-year-old design engineer Scott Bate.
For the sake of their son, Labbett and Katie later reconciled and tried to make the marriage work, while she remained in a relationship with Bate.
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But the pair have now decided to end their relationship in an amicable split.
He told the Sun on Sunday: “With Katie seeing Scott after lockdown, it’s got to the point now where I realise it is better for us to go our separate ways and remain friendly without the stress factor of living together.
“When Katie first came clean to me about her boyfriend, I’d had an inkling. But right from the start, my attitude was quite pragmatic – this was spilt milk, what could we do about the situation to make it OK?
“We had a family. We couldn’t just throw that away lightly. There were other considerations.”
The Beast, as he is known to The Chase viewers, added: “But Covid provided the perfect storm. My mental health suffered and the differences in our ages became magnified.”
Katie, also taking part in the interview, said she just wants “Mark to be happy”.
The interview also saw Labbett explain how the pair’s son often mentioned his mum’s boyfriend, which Labbett said made her act “sheepish”.
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He went on to add he would never publicly bash Katie, as he does not want their son “to read anything bad about his mother” when he is older.
Labbett previously revealed he and Kate are second cousins, something he says they didn’t realise until after they began dating.
He told the Loose Women panel in 2017: “It wasn’t something we were aware of at the time - it was one of those things that happened.”
