Kym Marsh: I lost Jack and got a life

CORONATION Street star Kym Marsh has told for the first time exactly why she dumped husband Jack Ryder - he was BORING.

While she liked to party with pals he liked nothing more than a quiet night in with his Xbox.

The couple have both stayed silent on the reasons behind their bitter divorce last year. But now former Hear'Say pop star Kym has revealed: "Jack didn't like to go out or socialise. He was really into computer games, which makes him sound like he was about 12. . . we just weren't getting on.

"Jack wasn't really a party- goer. He didn't drink.

"I AM a party girl. I like going out, I like having a drink occasionally, I like socialising. And hey, there's nothing wrong with that."

In a a deeply emotional 2½-hour interview with Piers Morgan about her incredible rise from poverty as a single mum to £100,000-a-year soap star, 33-year-old Kym also:

* ACCUSED dull Jack of suffocating her true bubbly personality.
* BROKE DOWN as she spoke of the baby she and new love Jamie Lomas lost.
* REVEALED the real reason she walked out of Hear 'Say.
* ADMITTED her big fear is Corrie bosses killing off barmaid Michelle Connor, her "dream job".

Opening up to Piers for his ITV1 Life Stories show next Saturday, Kym relived her painful split from 28-year-old Jack and said: "I was always portrayed as the older one, the one with kids, the one who's more feisty and in your face.

"So people thought, 'She must be the puppet master, she must be picking on him and telling him what to do.' But things aren't always as they seem."

Kym first met Jack in the BBC café in Elstree as she waited to appear on Top of the Pops.

RARE NIGHT OUT: Kym and ex Jack
RARE NIGHT OUT: Kym and ex Jack

"I always thought we were very different," she admitted. "I'd never met a guy who didn't want to go out and drink. In some respects I liked that, a good influence on me. I thought maybe this was right."

After a glitzy showbiz wedding they were dubbed "the council estate Posh and Becks". But in truth they lived a quiet life in St Albans, Herts, with Jack becoming a dad to Kym's two children - David, 15, and Emily, 11 - well away from the West End party scene.

When his EastEnders character Jamie Mitchell was axed he had to tour the country doing theatre work. The couple moved to Manchester in 2005 and Kym landed her Corrie role.

She admits she'd grown tired of being a stay-at-home mum and cracks started to show in the marriage as her TV star shone while Jack struggled to find work. In March 2008 they separated before divorcing last August and haven't spoken since.

Kym admitted that meeting new love Jamie, 34 - Warren Fox in Channel 4's Hollyoaks - rammed home just how stifled she'd been with Jack.

"Jamie is fun, exciting, there's never a dull moment," she said. "I realised how much I'd changed when I was married to Jack. Jamie and I are more suited." They plan to marry later this year.

But tragedy struck Kym and fiancé Jamie last February when their baby Archie died after being born 17 weeks premature. Deeply upset, Kym recalled the depths of their despair.

READY TO WED: Jamie and Kym
READY TO WED: Jamie and Kym

"I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy," she said. "It's horrible when you've been looking forward to something so much and it's suddenly taken away from you. In all honesty I didn't cope. It was horrendous."

Another troubled time was Kym's dramatic exit from Hear'Say. At the time she blamed it on rows with bandmate Myleene Klass. But looking back she told Piers: "I never hated Myleene. I left because I had a lot of personal stuff going on with regards to the children."

She was worried about not spending time with them. Then a trip abroad was planned. "My job was getting in the way. I was in a complete state. . . and I said 'Yeah, I quit.'

"I didn't talk to any of the band because I was angry. I really regret that, it was a mistake. But my head was everywhere. I was an absolute mess."

Now, with new success in Corrie, Kym has only one fear. "We all worry about being called and told your character is going to die," she said.

"Nobody's indispensable. It would be a nightmare!"

- Sitiemilia , Singapore.