Mark Owen Had Ten Affairs While With Wife Emma
Mark Owen The Take That star confessed to bedding a string of women, revealing he has slept with at least ten other females over the five years he has been with Emma. The couple have two kids together and married in a lavish ceremony last October, but Mark has confirmed he started seeing other girls almost as soon as he and Emma started dating.
He has been seeing accounts manager Neva Hanley, 24, for almost the entire five years, while others were just flings or one-night-stands. Mark blames alcohol for his infidelity, and insists he has been faithful to Emma since they tied the knot. He decided to tell her of his secret life yesterday as he hopes they can work through their problems and start afresh.
“I don’t know how many girls there were all in all, maybe ten. I have been living with the guilt – it has always been there – you carry it around with you. It held me back in my relationship with Emma, I wouldn’t have done any of this if I had my time again,” he told British newspaper The Sun.
“I am halfway through my life now and this, in a way, is a lesson. You’ve got to learn and that is what I am going to do. Emma is really strong and I know she will do what is right for her and the kids. I support that and I really appreciate that. She loved me – she still does love me – and I have let her down. That’s the truth of it.”
The 38-year-old said he can be “difficult” at times, explaining that rather than a second chance he is asking Emma for his “100th” chance.
Mark and Neva met five years ago, and have had a clandestine relationship since. They were friends at first, but three weeks after they first met Mark flew her to Los Angeles and they had sex. Three months after that, he took her to his home in the Lake District in Britain, and they spent time drinking vodka, smoking cannabis and having sex. Mark even admitted he slept with Neva in September – shortly before his wedding.
“When I met Neva in September it was because I was having a tough time with Emma. I wasn’t feeling very good about myself or the future and I went down my phonebook, found her number and we met up,” he confessed. “After the last meeting I realised I had to try and sort my life out. I had to change the person I was. The wedding for me was a new slate and a new start.”
Mark told Neva last month she had to stay away from him so he could be with Emma and their children.
He has given her around £12,000 over the last year, as she phoned asking him to help after she lost her job. Mark insists he didn’t give her cash to keep quiet – revealing he would “have no money left” if he had paid off all his lovers.
He added his Take That bandmates Gary Barlow, Jason Orange and Howard Donald knew nothing about Neva, although he told them all yesterday.
Mark admits his drinking has caused problems with Emma, saying he is a changed man since giving up alcohol. He now hopes Emma can forgive him, insisting she is “without doubt the only person I want to be with for the rest of my life.”
