Boyzone star Shane Lynch and his wife have split after almost 13 years of marriage. And there’s no one else involved besides coronavirus, so it seems.
The singer says the hell of the lockdown has taken such a toll on his relationship with wife Sheena White that he felt he had no choice but to move out of the family home.
He is not alone. Far from it. A massive, and pretty damn shocking 78% of respondents to one survey reckon their marriage is in danger of being put asunder, ie blown out of the water by being forced to live with their loved ones 24/7 – never mind ’til death do us part.
“All of a sudden I’m at home a lot”, Shane recently told former Hollyoaks actor Paul Danan’s Morning After podcast.
“You find out things about relationships and it can be very difficult. It can be a struggle.”
We can feel his pain. Well, I can anyway. Luckily my husband is still at work Monday to Friday.
He’s out of the front door at just gone 7am and not back until over 12 hours later. I love his company, but 24/7? No thanks. Marriages are great for evenings, weekends, holidays, birthdays and Christmas, but best to have something else to occupy one’s self on run-of-the-mill working weekdays.
And, come on, the institution was definitely not designed for 24/7 lockdown with the whole, fractious family.
I am already fizzing with the misery of having two six-foot something grown men – my sons – permanently hanging around, especially as their only regular visible movements are journeys to the fridge. And the bathroom. Which they never clean... aaargh.
One, the 20-year-old, is waiting to start his Army career and the other, aged 17, just waiting, although I’m not quite sure what for.
I can’t ask him because his idea of social distancing seems to include avoiding the answers to difficult questions. Such as, “Has anyone seen the chocolate cake I bought (no, I’m NOT home baking) yesterday? It WAS in the cupboard by the fridge?”
My admiration for those locked-down with children aged four to 16 and having to home-educate while running a 24/7 kitchen, a cleaning service, a laundrette, home delivery (ie the hell of empty-shelf supermarket shopping, followed by having to hulk it all home and watch it disappear before the sun’s gone down) knows no bounds.
What’s the saying? “Keep Calm and Carry On”. That’s it! Good luck with that... aaaargh!
