Mike Tindall’s three-word confession as he opens up on Zara marriage issues

Mike Tindall has candidly revealed challenges in his marriage to wife Zara Tindall, acknowledging that things aren’t “that easy”. The former England rugby star appeared on the ITV series Grand Slammers, where he visited the HMP The Mount, a Category C prison in Hertfordshire. It is home to one of the UK’s last remaining rugby pitches inside an adult male prison.

Tindall, along with other rugby legends, harnessed the power of sport to assemble and coach a team of inmates to square off against the tough Australian team. In the second part of the show, Mike disclosed details about his marriage with Zara, King Charles III’s niece, and adjusting to life post-rugby.

“Everyone thinks that just by marrying Zara that means it’s all fine and dandy… But that doesn’t stop the fact that you need a job,” he explained. “And it’s not that easy, you know – you get quite institutionalised into rugby, it’s a way of life and you leave the game and that’s not there.”

“I don’t think you can ever sort of describe when you’re so used to being around that many people, and understanding, because of it being ingrained in you, where you fit in to then not being that person. Zara would say it was probably a year it took me to figure out what I was, who I was going to be.”

He explained: “You’ve got to then go carve where the next path is – you can never replace going to work with 35 of your best friends every day.”

Together, they attempted to train a group of inmates into a formidable rugby team, instilling in them the camaraderie, intensity, emotion, joy, and laughter that comes with being united towards a common goal.