Michelle Keegan Reveals Baby Palma Has Started Walking

Michelle Keegan revealed that her baby daughter Palma has started walking, giving a rare insight into her life as a mother during an appearance on This Morning on Friday.

The actress, 39, appeared on the ITV sofa alongside her new co-star Douglas Booth, 34, to discuss their upcoming drama The Blame. Host Alison Hammond asked how old Palma was and whether she was walking yet, with Keegan revealing that her daughter, who is "a year and a half", is actually now "running".

Keegan and her husband, Mark Wright, also 39, welcomed Palma in March 2025. The couple have chosen to keep most details about their daughter private and have not shown her face publicly. Wright, a former star of The Only Way Is Essex, has since moved into radio and television presenting, and the pair married in 2015.

Juggling filming and motherhood

Speaking to Hammond and fellow host Dermot O'Leary, Keegan admitted that combining filming The Blame with looking after Palma had left her exhausted. "I was shattered!" she told the pair, while Booth, who is known for roles including Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, pointed out that she had effectively been "working two jobs at once".

"And learning lines. It wasn't easy but we got through it and Doug was brilliant," Keegan added.

Michelle Keegan's ITV drama exit

The interview came days after Keegan, best known for playing Tina McIntyre in Coronation Street between 2008 and 2014, pulled out of a separate major ITV drama in order to prioritise her family. She had been due to play a working-class barrister in the new series but withdrew just months before filming was set to begin, and will be replaced by Jodie Whittaker, 44, who is known for playing the title role in Doctor Who.

Insiders described the decision as a "huge blow", noting that Keegan had committed to the project a few months earlier and a filming date had already been agreed, though she dropped out before signing a contract.

A source told The Sun on Sunday that Keegan had been "really keen" to take on the role but that the heavy filming schedule would have kept her away from Palma for too long. "The hours were quite intense and the project was starting straight after her Netflix drama The Woods and she just couldn't commit," the source said, adding that Keegan "is dedicated to her acting career, but like all working mums has to prioritise being there for her family, juggling work, parenting and being present for Palma."

Returning to work after having Palma

Keegan, who also stars in the comedy drama Brassic, recently admitted that returning to work for the first time since having Palma had felt "daunting". Speaking earlier this year about The Blame, she said: "Coming back to work after having a baby is quite daunting. But the production were so supportive and I was so looked after and it was like working with family."

Scrutiny over starting a family

Keegan has previously spoken about the pressure she and Wright faced over their plans to start a family, after she did not become pregnant until a decade after the couple married. Telling Grazia magazine last year, she said: "Around the time we got married, I was open about the fact that I wanted to have a family... But then because we didn't choose to have children within a certain time, there was lots of speculation."

She added: "And we can handle that but, at one point, there was a story every week. My family was asking me about it, so I made the decision to not talk publicly about that side of my life. I'm going to be 38 this year and, as I've got older, I feel more confident about my boundaries."