Ore Oduba moving to country after ‘difficult chapter’ in marriage caused by Rocky Horror Show

Ore Oduba has revealed he is moving to the countryside after a "difficult chapter" in his marriage caused by his hectic schedule starring in The Rocky Horror Show.

The former Strictly Come Dancing winner has had a recent career pivot from journalism to musical theatre, but admitted to The Mirror that his starring role in The Rocky Horror Show had almost pushed things to breaking point.

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Speaking about his year with the show which involved touring, he said: “From a work perspective, it was amazing, an incredible job, but at home it was a difficult chapter to negotiate."

The job was supposed to last for three months until he welcomed second child Genie with wife Portia, but his popularity led to it going on for a year - leaving Portia at home a newborn and four-year-old Roman.

Portia said that there was "a lot of emotions from both our sides”, especially as they were stuck in London far from family.

Now, they are moving to the countryside after realising during the pandemic and the tough year of touring that their priorities were to see more of relatives, as well as each other.

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Portia said of the period that Ore was touring with the show: “There was a lot of Ore trying to be dad on the phone or via FaceTime. And we were trying to have a relationship and sell a house in the middle of all that.”

Ore added that he realised he had gone back on his own aims in parenting, so was looking forward to a better work-life balance.

He said: “My dad spent a lot of time away from home when I was growing up. I took it as the norm, even though it would have been lovely to have a closer relationship. I remember thinking, ‘I’ll never do that when I’m a dad,’ and now my kids are nine months old and four years old, and I’ve been away on two tours in that time."

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