Former Coronation Street actor Shayne Ward and his fiancée Sophie Austin have announced the exciting news that they're expecting their second child.
The soap star pair, who have a five-year-old daughter Willow, have received an outpouring of congratulations after revealing that they're having another girl due in May.
The couple had turned to IVF but when that failed former Hollyoaks actress Sophie fell pregnant naturally, they told Hello!
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Sophie says IVF was one of the 'most emotionally draining' experiences they had ever been through, and she had 'never felt so depressed and low in my whole life.'
But it was her fiance's positivity that kept her going.
Shayne, from Clayton, played Aidan Connor in Corrie from 2015 to 2018.
In 2016 it was revealed that the former Coronation Street hunk had found love off-screen with ex Hollyoaks star Sophie, who played the Channel Four soap's killer nurse Lindsey Butterfield.
The year before Shayne showed he was a fan when he tweeted a photo of Sophie appearing on Hollyoaks in her bra with the words: “Best start to Hollyoaks I’ve ever witnessed!” alongside a cheeky emoji with its tongue poking out.
Shayne and Sophie welcomed their daughter Willow in December 2016 and the couple got engaged on Boxing Day 2017.
Shayne, 37, previously said that the proud parents would love to have another baby.
He received high praise for his role in Corrie, winning best single episode and best storyline at The British Soap Awards in 2019 for his moving portrayal of Aidan, who took his own life after secretly struggling with his mental health.
The actor and singer, who won The X Factor in 2005, relished the opportunity in lockdown to spend more time with Sophie and Willow.
In 2019 his fiancee, who starred in a heartbreaking storyline in the BBC One drama Call The Midwife about a young mum who suffered a stroke, thanked the NHS for her care after she ended up in hospital with the life-threatening condition sepsis following a routine operation.
Tagging in NHS Million, a movement to show how much Brits love their NHS, she wrote on her Instagram: "I just want to say a huge thank you to our @nhsmillion and Macclesfield Hospital for everything they do.
"I honestly can’t express how lucky we are to have the most amazing health care and they are there when we need them!
"Their actions were so quick and I’m so grateful! Please let’s look after our healthcare system and protect them because they certainly try and look after us."
Sepsis, a complication of infection that can lead to multiple organ failure and death, kills 44,000 people every year in the UK.
It happens when the immune system overreacts to an infection and starts to damage the body's own tissues and organs.
"It's a blessing to have been able to spend as much time as we have with our our little girl," said Shayne about family time in lockdown.
"Myself and Sophie have been very proactive. She's been working on monologues and I've been in the studio."
In 2020 Shayne released a new version of the timeless classic Over The Rainbow dedicated to the NHS.
