Mark Wright has revealed that he missed out on a dream job moment due to the arrival of his baby daughter, Palma. Mark and his wife Michelle Keegan announced the arrival of their first child earlier this month.
New parents Mark, 38, and Michelle, 37, announced little Palma’s entrance into the world with an adorable social media post, revealing she was born on 6 March. The sweet announcement was greeted with a flood of well wishes from friends and fans, and the couple has since been giving us glimpses into their new life as doting parents.
Ex-TOWIE star Mark has now confessed that his daughter’s birth meant that he missed out on a chance to sit down and interview legendary actor Robert De Niro, 81. Robert stopped by the Heart studio with Debra Messing, 56, to chat about their latest movie, the Alto Knights.
The interview was for Heart’s Saturday Breakfast show, which Mark co-hosts with his pal Olly Murs, 40. Whilst Olly was in the studio to speak to the two Hollywood guests, Mark instead appeared through a video call displayed on a screen.
Olly broke the news to both Robert and Debra saying Mark was “devastated” at missing the face-to-face. In his words: “Behind my left shoulder you can see [Mark]. Unfortunately, he can’t make it today to talk to you guys. He’s absolutely devastated”, reports the Mirror.
Mark confessed: “I was supposed to be there. The one time …” He went on to reveal: “Robert, when I lived in LA I interviewed nearly everybody in your field and the one person I never got to do, who I wanted to do, was yourself!”.
He then explained his absence, sharing: “So when it came up that you were coming in to Heart, I was like ‘yes’. And then my wife decided to have a baby. And it means I can’t be in the studio.” Mark appeared to add: “Literally a couple of days ago.”
Both guests congratulated Mark on his new chapter as a dad and when they asked for more details, he replied: “A little girl called Palma.” Debra cooed that it was “beautiful,” while Robert chimed in saying: “Ah that’s nice. Nice name.”
During his stint working in Los Angeles from 2017 to 2019, Mark took the role of presenter on Extra and had the chance to interview A-listers such as Jane Fonda, Jamie Foxx, and Chris Pratt. Although this particular encounter with Robert couldn’t take place face-to-face in the Heart studios, they still connected over the video call.
Mark recently opened up about his journey into fatherhood on his radio show. He gushed: “It’s actually hard to put it into words. I’ll start by saying it’s the biggest achievement of my life. It’s all I think about.”
He went on to praise Michelle, saying: “But obviously, hats goes off to my wife. She’s an absolute superhuman superhero for bringing this baby into the world. And it makes you realise, like what our mums did for us, and makes me have so much more respect than I already had and what women have to go through.”
Continuing the heartfelt conversation with his friend Olly, Mark revealed: “But other than that, it’s the best feeling in the world. I wake up every morning just so excited to see her face. Every time I wake up, I’m like ‘oh, she’s there.’ And that moment when I held her in my arms, I mean, it gets me emotional now thinking about it.”
Reflecting further, he added: “It’s just, I suppose, everything else goes out the window. And it’s made me realise what life is all about. And my little baby, Palma, I love you so much. I can’t wait to spend my life with you.”