IT'S NOT A BOY! 'I WAS GENUINELY SURPRISED WHEN CHRIS SAID DORIS WAS A SHE'

CORONATION STREET STAR JENNIE MCALPINE EXCLUSIVELY REVEALS HER NEW DAUGHTER'S NAME AND DOESN'T RULE OUT MORE BABIES

- BETH NEIL

Jennie McAlpine is making the most of having so many extra pairs of hands at today’s shoot. As the all-female team in the studio happily tends to her new baby Doris, the Corrie star jokes that it’s a little taste of luxury and a bit like having an entourage.

“This must be what it feels like to be the Kardashians!” she says. “I’ve got so many gorgeous people here who want to cuddle her and get her dressed for me. It’s so lovely, but not like real life.”

Beautiful Doris is nearly five months old now, but today marks her official introduction to the wider world. Jennie has held off publicly announcing the birth – just as she did with her pregnancy, which she didn’t reveal until six months – preferring to stay ensconced in the newborn bubble for as long as possible.

This is baby number three for Jennie and Chris Farr, her husband of six-and-a half years, and they’re clearly smitten with her and adapting well to life as a family of five.

“I’m so aware of how precious this time is and just how quickly it goes,” says Jennie, 39, who has played Fiz Dobbs on Coronation Street since 2001.

“It’s chaos, though. I mean, it was chaos before but now it’s another level! That’s why this shoot and interview feel like a real treat.”

Doris is a sister for Albert, eight, and four-year-old Hilda. Jennie says both of them played a part in choosing her unusual name. As she and Chris had decided not to find out the sex before the birth, two shortlists of girls’ and boys’ names were drawn up – a task Albert took very seriously indeed.