EastEnders star Kellie Shirley has announced that she's pregnant at 41, admitting she's 'absolutely floored' by the life-changing news.
The British actor, best known for playing Carly Wicks on the BBC One soap EastEnders, said she was in 'shock' but also feeling 'lucky' to discover that she was expecting her third child a few months ago.
Kellie and her husband, Phil Davies, are already the proud parents to seven-year-old twins, daughter Pearl and son Louis. They are now looking forward to welcoming a second boy, after receiving a positive pregnancy test during the UK heatwave last summer. At the time, Kellie was filming the CBeebies show, Biff & Chip, in Manchester.
“We couldn’t have fans on during filming because of the sound quality and we were filming quite high up – and heat rises. I felt terrible," the 41-year-old recalled in an interview with OK! magazine.
Kellie was convinced her poor health stemmed from the hot temperatures, however, and carried on her business as usual. It was only after being sick for a "couple of weeks" that she decided to get a pregnancy test, which "straightaway" returned two lines.
"It was a really lovely surprise," she said, "I feel very lucky."
Kellie's pregnancy hasn't been all smooth sailing, however.
“Being older this time around, I feel absolutely floored," she admitted, recalling that "last time was such a breeze in comparison." The TV presenter also shared her reluctance to tell people at work she was pregnant, for fear of what their reactions might be.
"I kept really quiet about it. I was just getting my head around it," she said. Being an actress and freelance, you think, ‘Will people view me differently? Has the world moved on?’"
Kellie and Phil's third child is due in March, but the name of the little one remains undecided. Big sister Pearl has proposed they call the baby Barry – a suggestion that seems to have already been rejected by the couple.
"We haven’t chosen a name yet, but it won’t be Barry," Kellie laughed.
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