Distance makes Mingay try harder
While many couples fall to the pressures of long-distance relationships, actor Ben Mingay has found the secret to keeping his relationship steady.
Mingay and girlfriend Kirby Burgess, who is taking the stage by storm as Baby in the musical version of Dirty Dancing, have had to become accustomed to spending time apart as they follow their entertainment careers.
As their work schedules become heavier, with Mingay starring on Australian dramas Wonderland and Packed to the Rafters, the couple have developed a pact that makes long distance that little bit easier.
“We’ve made a rule that we don’t spend longer than three weeks apart. That’s the maximum,” Mingay explained toAccess All Areas .
“Because we’re both in the industry, we understand that we’re going to be away from each other a fair bit but the longest we’ve ever gone apart is about 31/2 weeks.”
Mingay joked this was the way the couple, right, made it work until their days of being “rich and famous, living in a mansion” came.
To keep up his part of the deal, Mingay has been dividing his time between Melbourne and Sydney over the past few months to support Burgess as she stars in Dirty Dancing.
But he will now be staying in Sydney after landing a guest-starring role on Home and Away as Summer Bay’s newest dark character.
The theatre-turned- television star began filming last week and said there would be a lot of mystery surrounding his character, Trystan.
“Trystan is basically a bit of a shady character who comes to Summer Bay to create a bit of a whirlwind,” Mingay said.
“The character is mysterious but he definitely causes a bit of trouble. I’ve mainly played happy, funny guys in the past, so this is going to be awesome.”
After travelling to WA with Burgess when she was in Grease the musical last year, Mingay said he was hoping to come over with Burgess again when Dirty Dancing opened at Crown Theatre on August 2.
