Sam Faiers has revealed she is expecting baby number three next spring – last week sharing the happy news with a sweet black and white picture of herself and boyfriend Paul Knightley with son Paul, five, and daughter Rosie, four, kissing her blossoming baby bump.
Sam, 30, wrote, “Soon to be a family of 5. We have a spring baby on the way. We’re so happy and feeling blessed.”
And the former The Mummy Diaries star wasted no time showing off her growing tummy again later in the week as she hit the red carpet in a black feathered dress for an event hosted by ITV in London.
Sam’s sister Billie – who had been on a romantic getaway in Dubai with husband Greg Shepherd – was among the first to congratulate her, commenting, “I am soooo excited to be an auntie again! Just the best news ever. Love you all sooo much!”
Check out: the TOWIE mums and dads
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1 of 20Amy Childs
The first of the really big names to come from TOWIE, Amy quit the show in 2011 and welcomed her first daughter, Polly, in 2017. She also has a son from a different relationship who she's kept out of the limelight, but accidentally revealed his name was Ritchie in an interview.
2 of 20Georgina Cleverly
Georgina Cleverley – née Dorset – was only on the show for two series and went on to have a two sons with her footballer hubby Tom, who she keeps off social media.
3 of 20Sam Faiers
Sam is mum to daughter Rosie and a son called Paul, who she named after her husband, also called Paul. "We always wanted him to be named Paul after his dad," she said."It's traditional and we didn't have any other names on the list, so he's Paul, and his middle name is Tony after Paul's brother, his Uncle Tony."She's made a household name for herself and her family with her hit reality show, The Mummy Diaries.
4 of 20Billy Faiers
Sam's lookalike big sister Billie is also a mum to two kids of her own, sharing daughter Nelly (five) and son Arthur (three) with her husband Greg Shepherd.
5 of 20Kirk Norcross
Despite being TOWIE's original bad boy, Kirk has overhauled his image in the last few years to be the ultimate family man. He's dad to son Harry, three, and daughter Violett, four - although Violett doesn't feature on his Instagram after her mum made it clear she didn't want her in the public eye.
6 of 20Maria Fowler
Maria is mum to four-year-old Evie who she shares with husband Kelvin Batey, and earlier this year revealed on Instagram that they were preparing to welcome baby number two.Back in 2018, Maria revealed she had suffered a miscarriage, writing on Instagram, "I feel silly even referring to it as a baby as we were really early in the pregnancy and had not yet had a scan but I did grieve and I did feel like I had lost something very special."I feel it is such a cruel twist of fate to get such happy news and then have it taken away. Just like that. No explanation."
7 of 20Chloe Sims
Chloe was already a mum when she joined the cast of TOWIE back in 2011. Her daughter Madison is now 15, and largely stays out of the public eye, although last year Chloe finally revealed Madison's dad was still a close pal, posting a picture to Instagram and writing, "So lots of people have always been interested in who is Maddie's dad, well, here he is..."I was 18, he was 24... all you nosy f--ckers who wanted to know, here he is!"
8 of 20Dan Osborne
TOWIE lothario Dan Osborne already had a son, Teddy, with ex Megan Tomlin when he joined TOWIE. After he was booted in 2015, Dan married EastEnders star Jaqueline Jossa and they have two daughters together, Mia and Ella.
9 of 20Lucy Mecklenburgh
Lucy Mecklenburgh quit TOWIE all the way back in 2013 and since then has had success as an influencer and fitness guru. In 2020 she welcomed her first child with her fiancé, Corrie actor Ryan Thomas, a son they named Roman.
10 of 20Lydia Bright
How cute is this? Long-term best pals Lucy and Lydia were both pregnant at the same time and gave birth just weeks apart. Lydia is going it alone as a single mother to baby Loretta, after splitting with Loretta's dad Lee Cronin during her pregnancy.
11 of 20Ferne McCann
One of TOWIE's most high profile mums, Ferne McCann welcomed her daughter Sunday in 2017following a difficult few months. Shortly before announcing her pregnancy Ferne's boyfriend Arthur Collins was arrested and charged with an acid attack in an East London club that left two victims blind. And weeks before Sunday was born he was sentenced to 20 years.
12 of 20Mario Falcone
TOWIE OG Mario left the show after 15 series, and in 2018 welcomed a son, Parker Jax,with his fiancée Becky Meisner.
13 of 20Chloe Lewis
Chloe quit the show in 2019 after revealing she'd found herself a new relationship and it wasn't long before she and new man Danny Flasher announced they were expecting. They welcomed a healthy baby boy, Beau Lewis, in October 2019.
14 of 20Jake Hall
Meanwhile, Chloe's TOWIE boyfriend Jake Hall went on to have a family of his own. Despite an at times messy relationshipwith Real Housewives of Cheshire's Misse Beqiri, the couple welcomed a daughter in 2018, who they named River.
15 of 20Billi Mucklow
Billi Mucklow, who left TOWIE in 2013, must certainly have her hands full with her huge blended family with footballer fiancé Andy Carroll. The couple are raising Andy's kids from a previous relationship, Lucas and Emilie, and have two of their own together, Arlo and Wolf. In early 2020 they announced they were expecting AGAIN. Phew.
16 of 20Danielle Armstrong
Danielle Armstrong welcomed her first child with long-term pal Tom Edney in May 2020 after being "pregnant forever" and begging fans for tips on inducing labour. She took to Instagram to update followers on the birth, writing, "My world Is complete ud83dudc76ud83cudffcud83dudc95 Orla Mae Edney Born May 26th at 16:30pm, weighing a healthy 8Ibs11".
17 of 20Lauren Pope
Lauren quit TOWIE in 2019 after a staggering nine years on the show. In July 2020, she and her boyfriend welcome a little girl called Raine Anais Keterman.
18 of 20Sam Mucklow and Shelby Tribble
After a whopping three-day labour, Sam and Shelby welcomed their first child, a boy, in November 2020. "Shelby and our beautiful baby boy are both well and healthy," he wrote on Instagram. "Shelby didn't have a straightforward labour so she has been in hospital for five days. She has been an absolute soldier."
19 of 20Georgia Kousoulou and Tommy Mallet
TOWIE's power couple Georgia Kousoulou and Tommy Mallet welcomed their baby boy Brody on 5th May, 2021. They even reveal that "Mallet" is not actually Tommy's surname, when they introduced baby as Brody Fordham.
20 of 20Lauren Goodger
After years of dreaming of being a mum, Lauren finally welcomed her first child, a daughter called Larose, In July 2021. Sadly when Larose was just a couple of months old, Lauren split from the baby's dad Charles Drury, but is smashing being a single mum.
And fans were quick to add how they are also hoping for an announcement from Billie, 31, soon too.
“Congratulations. I thought it would have been you first, Billie,” said one, while another added, “Your turn next!”
Last week, there was a hint on Greg’s Instagram account that Billie may already be pregnant, with somebody commenting on a photo of him and Billie, “Can’t wait for the new house and new baby Shep” – but it’s since been deleted.
Billie – who is mum to Nellie, seven, and Arthur, four – also told Closer earlier this year that she was hoping for a third baby soon, saying, “Me and Greg always think about having baby number three as well, we’ll see what happens over the next few months. I think if we’re going to do it, it’ll be sooner rather than later because we don’t want a huge age gap.”
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Now, a source reveals to Closer how Billie and Sam’s family is also harbouring secret hopes that the sisters can be pregnant together.
A source says, “The family is of course happy about the news – they can’t wait for a new member! They’re now hoping Billie will fall pregnant too, so they can have them at the same time. Sam and Billie are very close, so they always wanted their babies to be close too.”
However, earlier this year there were reports of a rift between the once inseparable pair following Sam’s departure from the sisters’ joint show, The Mummy Diaries, in June – just over a year after she uprooted from her hometown of Essex to her £2.25m family mansion in Surrey last April.
Sources at the time revealed how Sam’s new life and friendship circle, which includes Luisa Zissman and Ashley Cole’s girlfriend, Sharon Canu, had left Billie feeling “cut off” and “a bit neglected”.
Billie didn’t hide her emotions when Sam announced she would be leaving Essex during an episode of their ITV2 show – calling her sister “selfish”.
WATCH: Billie Faiers Reveals How To Apply False Nails
“I was a bit like, ‘Oh, trying to get away from us, are you? Why would you want to move away from your family? I think it’s selfish,” she said at the time the couple were house-hunting.
And although Billie recently told Closer they have been spending weekends at each other’s houses in a bid to maintain their close relationship and for their children to see each other, a source reveals how having babies together could help to bring them even closer together.
The insider says, “Sam will need as much support as possible now with another baby, so Billie will jump at the chance of being there to help out – this baby could be the key to healing any past animosity between the sisters, once and for all. And if they do become pregnant at the same time, then even better, as that bond will heal the heartache even more.”
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