Mark Owen: 'I cheated with ten girls'

Mark Owen has revealed that he cheated on his long-term girlfriend Emma Ferguson with around ten women before their wedding last November.

The Take That star told The Sun that he had a five-year on-and-off relationship with 24-year-old accounts manager Neva Hanley, in addition to a string of drunken one night stands with other girls.

Owen said: "I have been an idiot, a d**khead, a kn*bhead. All of the above and more. It's about me, my mistakes, nobody else is to blame. I don't know how many girls there were in all. Maybe ten.

"I have been living with the guilt. It has always been there - you carry it around with you. It held me back in my relationship with Emma. I wouldn't have done any of this if I had my time again.

"Emma is really strong and I know she will do what is right for her and the kids. I support that and I really appreciate that. She loved me - she still does love me - and I have let her down. That's the truth of it."

He claimed that he had not slept with any other girls since his wedding, adding: "I'm proud of that. I know it sounds really stupid but on our wedding day, for me the ring is really important and I want to be true to my word.

"This had to happen for me to move on. It would have always been there. I could never have been fully open with Emma, with myself, with anybody. Now I can. I can start again, that's how I feel. I wish I had realised about my drinking earlier.

"I really wanted for me and Emma to move on when we got married and not make the same mistakes. In situations like this people surprise you. Friendships and the words people send. I feel supported - an idiot like me."