Pregnant Michelle Keegan on the pressure to have kids straight after marriage
Michelle Keegan has opened up about the immense social pressure she experienced to have children soon after marriage.
The former Coronation Street star announced back in December that she was pregnant with her first child with husband Mark Wright, after almost 10 years of marriage.
The actress tied the knot with The Only Way is Essex star back in 2015, when she was 28. In the years that followed, Keegan experienced intense interest in her relationship as she was constantly questioned about when she’d start a family.
She explained in an interview with Grazia: "Around the time we got married, I was open about the fact that I wanted to have a family but then, because we didn't choose to have children within a certain time, there was lots of speculation. And we can handle that but, at one point, there was a story every week."
Soon after, Keegan decided to stop talking about the topic altogether, up until the moment they announced they were expecting last year.
"My family was asking me about it, so I made the decision to not talk publicly about that side of my life," she added. "I’m going to be 38 this year and, as I’ve got older, I feel more confident about my boundaries."
The actress, who starred in Netflix’s Fool Me Once and Our Girl, also opened up about the changes in her taste since she's been pregnant and revealed one particular new craving.
"I’m usually a savoury girl, but now I’m craving sugary stuff," she said, "I’ll eat a chocolate bar while walking around the supermarket and just give them the wrapper at the checkout."
Ahead of the baby’s arrival, Keegan is also planning to make one major change to her lifestyle and schedule more down time at home, after spending several years travelling for work.
"I’m going to take a good chunk of time off to enjoy being a mum," she added, "I’m never normally at home in the summer, I’ve always been working."
She later continued: "I used to panic if I had a long gap in-between jobs, thinking I'll never work again, but I’m getting better at trusting the process, trusting my instincts and saying no to what’s not right for me."
"It's taken years and it’s still hard. I’ve always been such a people pleaser. But now I’m learning to be unapologetically me."
Read more about Michelle Keegan:
Michelle Keegan says there will always be ‘snobbery’ towards soap actors (Independent, 2-min read)
Michelle Keegan shares relationship update ahead of big milestone (Digital Spy, 9-min read)
Michelle Keegan says '2025 is going to be special' as she shares pregnancy announcement with Mark Wright (Manchester Evening News, 2-min read)
