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By Sara Nathan
Strain: Mark Owen's wife Emma wasn't wearing her wedding ring as the couple returned to their south London home yesterdayFather-of-two blames alcohol for his love-cheat behaviour
Star gave one lover £9,000 after calling off affair
The marriage of Take That singer Mark Owen was on the rocks last night after he admitted cheating on his wife ten times.
Owen, 38, was forced to break the news to wife Emma on Tuesday after one of the girls threatened to tell her about their five-year entanglement.
Yesterday he confessed in public to all ten flings, saying: 'I have really let her [Emma] down. Friends, everybody, I feel like I have let everyone down.'
Friends of the couple say it is 'too early' to tell if the marriage can be saved.
The pair have two children - Elwood, three, and Willow Rose, one - but only wed last October after a courtship of five years.
One of Owen's affairs, with accounts manager Neva Hanley, 24, carried on for most of that time, with the lovers sharing a final night together just weeks before his wedding.
Another of their encounters took place a week after the birth of his daughter.
Other infidelities were drunken one night stands while he was on tour with his band.
The star, who admitted his drinking had affected his marriage, tried desperately to apologise to Emma when he came clean on Tuesday, fearing Miss Hanley was about to sell her story.
Showing the strain: A tense Mark Owen, who yesterday admitted to a string of affairs, arrived at his south London home yesterday afternoon
Crisis talks: The couple, who have two children together, quickly headed inside the marital home Friends alleged she had threatened to come to his family home or call his wife.
The singer said yesterday: 'I have been an idiot. It's about me, my mistakes. Nobody else is to blame. 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.
Wedding day: The singer married Emma in a Scottish castle in October'I am halfway through my life now and this, in a way, is a lesson. You've got to learn and that's what I am going to do.'
The shattered-looking star and his wife arrived back at their home in Wandsworth, South London, yesterday after spending the night apart.
A friend said: 'Mark has just dropped an almighty bomb on Emma. She always suspected he was cheating, but he always denied it.
'She is extremely strong-willed and it is too early to say whether she will stay with Mark.
'She wants to do what is right for the children. She doesn't know what to do yet.
'Mark confessed all to Emma on Tuesday - he had an inkling what Neva was going to do - and they did not spend Wednesday day or night together. Emma is devastated, while Mark feels terrible, but this is something he has been dragging around for years.
'Neva basically stayed as a friend, any time he had a problem, he would be in touch with her, but the relationship went too far.'
Miss Hanley, who was brought up in a middle-class family in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, changed her name from Victoria to Neva when she moved to London to go to dance school.
She appeared in several dance videos and adverts, including one for Cornetto ice cream.
On her Twitter page, Miss Hanley calls herself a 'slightly lost dancer, advert-sellout, fish keeper, explicit cupcake lover and gin junkie'. Yesterday, as the story of her affair came out, she boasted on her page: 'Going to stamp on someone'sparade.'
Owen said he first met Miss Hanley five years ago when she was 19, at a platform at Preston railway station.
They became friends and three weeks later he flew her out to Los Angeles where they had sex in Holdeathslywood's Best Western hotel. Three months later, Owen invited her to his Lake District home where they spent a night smoking cannabis, drinking vodka and having sex.
Love cheat: Groom Mark (right) with his Take That band members Howard Donald and Gary BarlowThe pair later cooled their relationship, but kept in touch and spent the night together just one week after Owen's daughter was born. Their final night was last September at the Gore Hotel in Kensington, West London.
Miss Hanley said: 'We had sex five times that night. That's when I started to feel really guilty.
'The lie has gone on for far too long. I can't do this to Mark's family-any more.'
However, a source close to Owen said: 'If Neva is so worried about Mark's family then why did she go to the press?'
Owen also admitted paying Miss Hanley £12,000 over the past year, but said it was not hush money, merely to help her pay for her flat and expenses.
'Indeed, Miss Hanley had twittered in November: 'It has just hit me...I'm debt free! I owe no one anything! Yahooo.'
Owen also claimed he had not cheated on his wife since their wedding day, adding: 'I'm proud of that. For me, the ring is really important and I want to be true to my word.'
He added that since his admission of guilt he felt 'I can start again', saying: 'Emma is a strong girl. She has to do what is right for her and the kids. And I am here if she wants me.'
On tour: Mark (second from right) admitted he had a string of alcohol-fuelled one-night stands while on the road with his bandMiss Hanley is now believed to be dating a man called Matt, writing on her Twitter page: 'How long dating is it before you have to start calling someone your boyfriend/girlfriend ?'
Owen admitted his drinking had put a strain on his relationship with Emma and said he was 'not very nice to live with'.
'I denied to her I was having an affair when things were going on.
'We met and within a year and a half she was pregnant with our first beautiful boy, Elwood. And when you have kids, things change.
'I feel like I am getting to know Em more and more every day. I love her to death but our relationship hasn't always been great, because of me.'
Mark enjoyed massive adoration as a member of boy band Take That but when the group split in 1996, he struggled to find a foothold in the music industry.
After two top five singles was dropped by his record label BMG and in 2002, clearly desperate to raise his profile he took part in Celebrity Big Brother, and emerged as the winner.
Serial cheat: Mark says he is 'deeply sorry' for the pain he has caused Emma'Life was hard, I guess. I let Emma down. I was selfish and stubborn.'
The group reformed with bandmates Gary Barlow, Howard Donald and Jason Orange in 2005, who have since enjoyed a re-run of their huge success and the attentions of their die-hard fans who think nothing of following them from show to show.
He said the others were unaware of his affair with Hanley, but he did not say if they knew of his many liaisons on tour.
Owen added: 'I want to do the right thing now for the kids and Emma.
'It's the best thing in the world having kids. I feel blessed and I am really sorry that I have done this to them and to Emma.
'She has done a lot of good for me, Emma has. She is absolutely without doubt the only person I want to be with for the rest of my life.'
In a statement released yesterday, Owen said: 'I'm so deeply sorry for the pain my actions have caused my family and friends.
'I'd like to ask the media to please respect the privacy of my wife and children during this difficult time.'
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