Mark Wright and Olly Murs have delighted fans with a rare and heartwarming glimpse into their lives as new dads. The pair, who co-host Heart Radio together, spent Monday enjoying a “dads’ day” playdate with their baby daughters — and the results were simply adorable.
Olly, 41, shared a sweet snap of his 18-month-old daughter Madison playing alongside Mark and Michelle Keegan’s seven-month-old daughter Palma, captioning it: “Just a couple of lads… Dads.”
Mark and Michelle, both 38, welcomed Palma in March, marking their first foray into parenthood. Olly and his wife, fitness trainer Amelia Tank, meanwhile, are already seasoned parents — welcoming Madison in April 2024 and baby son Albert earlier this year.
Speaking about fatherhood earlier this summer, Mark revealed that Olly had been his go-to guide for dad life. “He’s just been telling me how excited I should be,” Mark shared. “When we were in Germany for the Euros, he’d just had a baby, and he couldn’t stop talking about how amazing it all was. He’s a great dad.”
Olly, in turn, joked that he’d warned Mark about the challenges ahead as Palma approached six months. “I told him, ‘Enjoy your trip to Majorca now — because once Palma starts crawling, that’s a whole other level!’” he laughed. “And don’t get me started on weaning. You think they’re choking, but your wife’s like, ‘It’s fine, she’s learning.’ I’m there saying, ‘Babe, I can’t — I’m going to sit in the other room.’”
The two stars’ friendship has spanned nearly a decade, beginning at the Brit Awards and strengthened through Soccer Aid and countless shared moments since. “We just clicked instantly,” Mark recalled. “He even came to stay with me in LA. We’ve been tight ever since.”
But behind the smiles, Olly has also opened up about his emotional struggles as a dad. On their radio show, he confessed that leaving home for a tour with Take That — just two days after Madison’s birth — left him wracked with guilt. “A few months later, I broke down,” he admitted. “I realised I never really got to know my baby back then. I promised myself things would be different this time around.”
Mark comforted his friend live on air, reminding him: “You did it all for her future.”
Now, with their little girls bonding just like their dads once did, it seems the next generation of Heart Radio babies is already stealing hearts.
