Michelle Keegan totes a £3,400 handbag as she enjoys a well-earned break from filming new Harlan Coben thriller to head out for lunch with her mum Jacqueline and daughter Palma

Michelle Keegan enjoyed a well-deserved break from filming her new Harlan Coben thriller to enjoy lunch with her mum Jacqueline and daughter Palma on Friday.

The actress has been adding to her roster of gripping dramas by filming The Woods, but took a day off to relax in the Manchester sunshine.

Michelle cut a stylish figure in relaxed black cargo trousers, a white vest and a £3,400 Bottega Veneta bag as she headed to an outdoor cafe for the meal.

The former Coronation Street star was seen doting on her little girl during a break from her busy schedule. 

Michelle welcomed her first child, daughter Palma, with her husband Mark Wright in March 2025, after they tied the knot in 2015.

The star recently said it was 'daunting going back to work' to film new ITV series The Blame after becoming a mum for the first time.

As she prepared to return to the screen in the six-part drama series, which airs this autumn, Michelle revealed her co-workers were really 'supportive' on set.

Speaking at the ITV showcase with host Graham Norton, she said: 'Coming back to work after having a baby is quite daunting.

'But the production were so supportive and I was so looked after and it was like working with family.'

Michelle was joined by co-star Douglas Booth and added that they had good chemistry straight away as they bonded over quizzes.

The former soap star said: 'It was quite organic [our relationship] we got on straight away and we were doing quizzes in the makeup chair. That's how we bonded, quizzes and food.'

The Blame will follow DI Crane (Keegan) and DI Radley (Booth) as a body of teenage figure skater Sophie Madsen is discovered, sending shockwaves through the town of Wakestead.

As the detective digs deeper, what starts as a tragic death, spirals into a tangled web of lies, institutional cover-ups, and moral compromise.

As the clock ticks and trust fractures, Crane must navigate both a murder investigation and the treacherous politics inside her own team.

Since wrapping work on The Blame, Michelle has begun filming her new collaboration with author Harlan Coben, this time an adaptation of his novel The Woods.

The Netflix show follows 2024's Fool Me Once, which starred Michelle alongside Adeel Akhtar, Richard Armitage and Joanna Lumley. 

Michelle won mass critical acclaim for the role and was tipped for Hollywood glory for her role as widow Maya Stern. 

Harlan created the series and acts as executive producer through his company, Final Twist Productions. On The Woods, he said: 'It's one of my most personal novels.... 

'Like the story's hero, Paul Copeland, I worked as a counselor at a sleepaway camp when I was too young for the job.'

Michelle meanwhile said: 'What's really exciting for me as an actor is that Lucy is dealing with these deep, personal secrets...

'So, I get to really explore her vulnerability and that emotional push and pull, which just makes the story feel so real and powerful.'

A synopsis for The Woods teases: 'Twenty years ago, Paul 'Cope' Copeland's sister Camille vanished from a summer camp in the woods, a loss that tore his family apart.

'Now a top barrister and devoted single father to ten-year-old daughter Cami, Cope appears to have rebuilt his life. 

'But when the body of a man turns up - twenty years after he was supposedly murdered alongside Camille - Cope becomes convinced his sister may have made it out of the woods alive too.

'Determined to uncover the truth, Cope reunites with his first love, Lucy Silverfield (Keegan), and together they begin a search for answers, unearthing years of lies, cover-ups, and family secrets that threaten to destroy everything he has built.'