Former Neighbours star Olympia Valance has welcomed a baby with partner Tom Bellchambers.
Valance, best known for the role of Paige Smith on the Aussie soap, has posted a sweet black-and-white snap of her child on Instagram, with the caption revealing that baby Billy was born on December 3.
Fans and celebrities rushed to the comments section to congratulate the new parents, with ex Neighbours star Natalie Bassingthwaighte leaving a series of red heart emojis for the family.
Former Emmerdale star Sheree Murphy said: “What a beauty! Best news ever! Congratulations to you both!”
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Valance had previously opened up on her fertility struggle with her partner, sharing she had experienced a miscarriage during the COVID-19 lockdown.
When announcing she was pregnant with Billy in August last year, Valance was candid about her mixed feelings after her loss.
“I’ve been hiding away for the past 5 and a half months to make sure this wasn’t all a dream,” she wrote on Instagram. “But you kept growing and growing and it’s starting to look like our dreams have finally come true.”
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She continued: “I’ve been as open and honest as I could about our struggles with infertility and I truly believed that this day wasn’t going to be possible for us.
“So when I saw this positive pregnancy test I have to admit, at the time, I wasn’t jumping for joy. I was full of fear because that’s all I’ve known. But as the weeks kept going by it was hard to wipe the smile off our faces.”
Neighbours releases new episodes from Mondays to Thursdays for free on Amazon Freevee and Prime Video in the UK and US. In Australia, the show airs from Mondays to Thursdays at 4pm on Channel 10, with a 6.30pm repeat screening on 10 Peach Comedy.
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