Michelle Keegan struggled filming 'Our Girl.'

Michelle Keegan

Michelle Keegan

The 30-year-old actress spent the majority of last year shooting the army drama, in which she plays medic Lance Corporal Georgie Lane, in South Africa and has admitted she really found the long days and six-day weeks a huge challenge.

She told Cosmopolitan magazine: "The first month in South Africa, I struggled because you're trying to find your feet. You push yourself. I did eight months away - six-day weeks, and 14-hour days, working on top of a garbage heap. I did it! It was the sense of missing out - my dogs, a birthday, a family meal or my best friend having a baby. I didn't think I'd be able to do it. It's given me the drive and push."

The former 'Coronation Street' star was also forced to spend months away from her husband Mark Wright - who is co-hosting 'Extra' in the US - but the pair made a pact to FaceTime regularly so that they didn't feel like they were so far apart.

She explained: "It was like he was in the room. He'd have breakfast, I'd have dinner. He'd get in the shower, I'd do my scripts. It was the norm. We were [living at] different ends of the spectrum. I remember FaceTime-ing him surrounded by cattle and mud. He was in Nobu in Malibu having cocktails saying, 'Aw babe, look at the view!' I said, 'Do you want to see my view?'

"We're more patient with each other, laid-back, and don't sweat the small stuff. I think because we're really happy in our careers it helps with the relationship as well."

'Our Girl' will return to screens later this year.