Former EastEnders actress Samantha Womack, 47, has confirmed she and her husband Mark Womack, 59, have been separated for a while but are still living together with their children Benjamin, 19, and Lili Rose, 15, at their Bedfordshire farmhouse. The Ronnie Mitchell star, who is also stepmum to Mark’s son Michael, 25, admitted that although it is “not an easy route”, the former couple are “co-existing happily” in spite of their split.
Samantha, who has been married to fellow actor Mark for 11 years, explained: “Our family home is big enough and we’re co-existing happily.
“There’s no rush to change things.
“But now feels like the right time to be honest and admit we’re no longer together. It would be naive to say that moving on has been easy for us both.
“It’s not an easy route but we’ve always been honest with each other about everything,” she added to OK! Magazine.
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Mark is well known for his role in Emmerdale, after he played DI Mark Malone in the ITV soap earlier this year.
Samantha’s announcement comes days after her on-screen sister Rita Simons, who played Roxi Mitchell in EastEnders, also ended her marriage with Theo Silverston.
The couple had been in a relationship for 14 years, but recently felt they had grown apart according to The Daily Star.
Rita’s representative confirmed on Friday that divorce proceedings would be going ahead.
They said: “Rita and Theo have been separated for almost two years, and Theo moved out of the family home some time ago.
“The split has been a significant change for Rita, but she knows it’s the right decision.”
In May, Rita opened up about difficulties in her personal life in an Instagram post, saying: “I’ve been to dark places in the last few years.”
She also told fans that she had been “trying to deal with work and personal problems at the same time”, but that she has since found “healing” and “peace”.