The Chase’s Mark Labbett opens up on split from ex-wife and second cousin Katie

16 May 2022, 12:58 | Updated: 16 May 2022, 13:00

By Heart

@thisisheart

The Beast Mark Labbett has said he's 'too busy for a relationship' after his split from ex-wife and second cousin Katie.

The Chase’s Mark Labbett has opened up about splitting from his wife two years ago.

Mark, 56, - aka The Beast - tied the knot with his second cousin, Katie, 29, in October 2014 and they have a four-year-old son, Lawrence.

But the pair decided to call things quits in 2020, saying their 27 year age gap as the reason.

It later emerged that Katie had also been seeing a man called Scott, 31, a relationship that Mark was aware of.

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Speaking almost two years on from their break up, Mark has now confessed he is ‘too busy’ for a new relationship.

He told The Sun: "I’m single now. We are separated but we get on really well, we co-parent.

"I promised to look after her and I promised to look after my kid."

The former couple met on Facebook in 2010, with Katie claiming at the time she had no idea he was on The Chase.,

Mark invited Katie to watch an episode of The Chase being filmed, before the pair went out for drinks.

She said at the time: "I had never heard of Mark, or watched The Chase, but my gran mentioned him so I was intrigued.”

Mark and Katie’s dads are first cousins, which makes them second cousins, but they state they had no idea they were related until after their wedding.

"It wasn't something we were aware of at the time - it was one of those things that happened," Mark previously said on Loose Women.

Following their split, Mark spoke about their open marriage, saying he didn’t want to just ‘throw away’ his family.

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He said: "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.

“But Covid provided the perfect storm. My mental health suffered and the differences in our ages became magnified.

"With Katie seeing Scott after lockdown, it’s got to the point where I realised it’s better for us to go our separate ways and remain friendly, without the stress factor of living together."