THE GIFT OF LIFE 'I'VE GOT CUDDLES ON TAP - IT'S SUCH A PRECIOUS TIME'

ACTRESS KELLIE SHIRLEY ON THE SURPRISE NEW ADDITION TO HER FAMILY AND HOW BABY EZRA IS HELPING TO SAVE LIVES

-  DAWN EMERY

If you’d told Kellie Shirley 12 months ago that she would be celebrating the arrival of her new baby in OK! magazine, she probably wouldn’t have believed you.

The actress, 41, was a busy mum to twins Pearl and Louie – now seven – who she shares with her writer hubby Phil Davies and she wasn’t expecting the patter of more tiny feet any time soon.

But life has a funny way of surprising you when you least expect it and last summer, while filming CBeebies show Biff & Chip in Manchester, Kellie suddenly started to feel unwell.

It wasn’t the intense heat of 2022’s record-breaking temperatures that were making the former EastEnders star queasy, however. She was – much to her “total surprise” – pregnant again.

Fast-forward to April 2023 and beaming Kellie is posing for OK!’s cameras at her gorgeous three-bedroom home in south London, cradling six-week-old son Ezra Cillian in her arms.

“I feel very lucky,” says Kellie, who gave birth on 2 March. “It’s like being on happy pills. It’s so all-consuming. You’re so full of love – and knackered! – but you get those moments when Ezra does what looks like a smile and you forget that you’ve been up since 3am. It’s just lovely.”

Despite having her hands full with three young children to care for, Kellie welcomes us into her home with open arms, offering cups of tea to all, and seems happy to have the chance to glam up for the day.

This is the first time she has worn a dress since Ezra’s arrival, which she says makes a “nice change”.

Sitting down to chat, Kellie explains that while the pregnancy was unexpected, she and Phil were well-prepared for the birth, even down to Ezra’s outfit.