The Emmerdale actress, 40, waited until she was eight-months pregnant to reveal she and partner Matt were expecting their first child.
It seems Nicola also chose to keep quiet about the birth, as the official Emmerdale Twitter page confirmed she had a little boy last month.
A message read: “BIG congratulations to @nicola_Wheeler and her baby boy, who arrived on Friday 13!”
But Nicola dropped a hint on Friday that she’d already had her bundle of joy. She tweeted: “Quick tune into @BBCLees @MarkCharnock_ & @dominiccbrunt are hilarious! Well me and my little boy think so!”
Revealing that she and Matt were expecting earlier this year, Nicola said: “Thanks for all your congratulations still got a couple of weeks until arrives. Unless he/she gets impatient [sic].”
Nicola, who plays Nicola King in the ITV soap, had to juggle hiding her blossoming baby bump while coping with a very sensitive storyline.
Her character lost a baby at the beginning of the year, and later developed early menopause.
In order to factor in Nicola’s maternity leave, Emmerdae viewers have seen her character jet off to Dubai to start a new job.
Congratulations to Nicola and Matt!