Exclusive:
Spencer Matthews became close to Mark Wright when they filmed an advert for Marks and Spencers. Now he’s weighing in on their brilliant baby news
Spencer Matthews has revealed his joy at Mark Wright and Michelle Keegan’s baby news. The dad of three is thrilled his pal Mark is about to become a dad at the age of 38. Last year Spencer shot an advertisement with his pal Mark Wright for Marks & Spencer’s male fashion range. The campaign deepened their friendship and now Spencer is delighted that Mark is about to become a father with his wife, the actress Michelle Keegan.
“He’ll be a fantastic dad,” says Spencer. “It’s such great news after all these years that they’ve decided to have kids. I think it’s wonderful for him. I’m looking forward to seeing him grow into the awesome father I know he will be. It’ll be a beautiful time in his life.”
Mark and Michelle announced their baby news in December last year. Now Michelle and Mark are waiting for their firstborn to arrive. Spencer, who is married to model Vogue Williams, predicts becoming a dad will change Mark, just like it changed him.
“Being a father has changed me a lot,” says Spencer. “Maybe I’m still the main character in my life but I have other people around me to be prioritised. I was pretty selfish for a while when I was a bit younger. My wife is sitting next to me and she probably still thinks I am, but it’s slightly less so now. Just growing up generally and doing positive things regularly, gradually makes you change. I love having kids. It has been the best thing that’s ever happened to me for sure.”
Spencer is famously rich, however, he’s determined his own children will work hard for the luxuries in life. The father-of-three, 36, has spent the last five years transforming his image from reality TV playboy to sober businessman and endurance athlete, and the hard yards have convinced him not to afford his children a life of privilege – or a trust fund.
“Suffer is too strong a word, but it’s very important that my kids have to challenge themselves and experience things on their own,” says Spencer, who was educated at Eton where fees are currently £63,000 a year. “There’s no point in doing well in life and then giving it all to your kids. It’s doing them a huge disservice.”
Spencer married model Vogue, 39, in June 2018 in a high society wedding at the family’s Glen Affric Estate in Cannich surrounded by close friends and family, before following it up with a star-studded second ceremony in London that was filmed for E4. At the time of their first wedding, Vogue was seven months pregnant with their son Theodore, six, who arrived in September 2018. Theodore was followed by Gigi, four, and Otto who turns three in April.
In fact, Spencer is already ensuring his children are challenging themselves and Theodore has recently joined his local Parkrun, perhaps inspired by Spencer’s world record for running 30 marathons in 30 days on sand last summer. “Theodore is starting to run now,” says Spencer. “He ran two kilometres the other day with an average pace of 5 minutes 20 seconds per kilometre. I was just so proud of him because the kid got around two laps, and some kids give up after one lap because they’re given that option. And he pushed through it to do two laps. The more comfort you wrap around people in general, the weaker they will become.”
Comedian Jimmy Carr is not best known for his wisdom but he’s certainly inspired Spencer’s vision of fatherhood. “Jimmy quite eloquently talks about trust fund kids who are given everything, and he sees them as just being really unfortunate, actually,” says Spencer. “And I would completely agree.”
Spencer has partnered with Mercedes-Benz Vans to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Sprinter, their most enduring
and reliable van on the market, which has kept businesses moving for three decades.
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