"It just happened." The Chase Australia's Mark 'The Beast' Labbett on marrying his cousin.

Last year, The Chase star Mark ‘The Beast’ Labbett made headlines when he split from his wife, Katie Labbett, who also happens to be his cousin.

The couple had previously split in May 2019 after Katie had an ongoing affair.

"There was never any deceit on Katie’s part but it’s got to the point now where I realise it is better for us to go our separate ways and remain friendly," Mark, 55, told The Sun in August last year.

According to the publication, Katie, 28, had been dating senior design engineer Scott Bates for 18 months.

"When Katie first came clean to me about her boyfriend, I’d had an inkling," said Mark.

Listen to Mamamia Out Loud, what women are talking about three times a week. Post continues after podcast.

"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."

However, lockdown plus the couple's large age gap put a strain on their relationship and the pair decided to end their open marriage. 

"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."

The couple also share a three-year-old son, whose name and identity has not been publicly disclosed.

Here's everything we know about the couple's relationship and Mark Labbett's life outside of The Chase.

Mark Labbett's relationship with his cousin.

Mark and Katie tied the knot back in 2014. It’s understood their fathers are first cousins, making the pair second cousins. 

Appearing on UK morning show Loose Women in 2019, Mark told the panel that he discovered they were cousins after they got married. 

“It wasn’t something we were aware of at the time — it was one of those things that happened,” he said.

He then spoke about how difficult it was to adjust to married life, adding, “I’d been a single man for a long while so I was getting used to the idea of being on my own.

“A bachelor can be pretty selfish, you get used to doing what you wanna do all the time.”

The Mirror, however, tells a slightly different story.

According to the publication, Katie posted to Facebook prior to their wedding with the status: “So… I’m getting married… TOMORROW!!! Feeling in love.”

In earlier posts, she is reported to have said about Mark, “He’s my cousin and the chaser on ‘The Chase’.”

Mark Labbett's wife's affair. 

In April 2019, reports emerged that Katie had been cheating on Mark for more than a year.

The Sun claimed Katie had been seeing her new boyfriend 28-year-old Scott Bate since 2017, and since deleted Facebook photos suggest the pair had taken numerous trips together and spent time with friends as a couple.

Katie confirmed their split in May 2019, telling The Sun: "Mark and I had been talking about separating for some time — we have been drifting for a while. He works away a lot, and that’s been hard. A lot of people think it’s the age difference but we don’t see that as the factor."

“It’s more that we don’t have mutual friends, and our lives are just very different. I met Scott by accident, on a night out, and we just clicked. It wasn’t intentional, it just happened…”

After a separation of four months, Mark and Kate reportedly got back together.

In September 2019, during another appearance on Loose Women, Mark said the couple were trying to make things work.

“Like a lot of relationships, you go through a rough patch. We’re working our way through it,” he said.

“But we’ve always tried to be quite private. We’ve never done the glossy magazines. A tabloid newspaper offered us a sum of money to give us an exclusive. And we respectfully declined. It’s not what we do. You won’t find a picture of our son anywhere on the internet because it’s been quite a deliberate decision,” he added.

“Nor am I going to name him again. If he wants to when he’s old enough – to have a social media profile, that’s up to him. But I’m not going to do it for him.”

When asked to confirm whether the couple were back together, Mark flashed his wedding ring in response.

Alas, the pair didn't last long.

In August last year, the couple confirmed they had called it quits again. 

Mark Labbett's body transformation.

Last week, Mark opened up about his body transformation, sharing that he's lost 61kg.

"This is the lightest I’ve been in 25 years," he told The Sun.

At his heaviest, in 2003, Mark weighed 184kg and is now down to 120kg. 

"My knees really feel the difference. I will never be athletic again but I just move so much better for not carrying that extra weight," said Mark, who was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes in 2016. 

Growing up, The Chase star said he had always struggled with his weight and was called "Incredible Hulk" and "Honey Monster" at school, "along with other appalling nicknames which I won’t share". 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Mark Labbett (@markthebeastlabbett)

This article was originally published on September 11, 2019, and was updated on March 22, 2021.