You might know her best as EastEnders’ Carly Wicks, but this year actress Kellie Shirley landed her biggest role yet – she became mum to twins Pearl and Louie.
And, in this week’s exclusive Closer Online column, Kellie opens up about how she enjoyed her first Christmas as a mum-of-two…
"The Christmas pud and Guinness cake (thanks Nigella) has firmly placed itself on my thighs. I'm so full to the brim with port, I've got a nose Sir Alex Ferguson would be proud of. I've been expressing so much over the last couple of days, my nipples might just fall off.. this would make the start of a good Casualty episode or something for Dr Christian to address.
Call me old fashioned but I love the smell of babies, why would you want to buy and douse them in perfume (Zara?!) their porcelain skin untouched by a spray tan or caked in glittery makeup. Now, I still have no idea how to do mine properly, in fact I regularly look like I'm auditioning as an Oompa Loompa for Willy Wonka... So when my little one raids my make up box in a few years, I hope like me they have no idea how to apply the stuff, instead grab a big fat stick of red lippy to dollop over their heads, proudly write their names over knuckles - one things for sure, they won't be posing Lolita-esq for a selfie to be beamed to 800K Instagram strangers. Babies and children look beautiful without a scouse brow and tarantula lashes glued to their tiny features but like I say, I'm old fashioned.
This coming New Year's Eve marks a whole decade since I first marched into Walford's Queen Vic, clad in overalls, clutching a spanner, alongside a dashing 19-year-old Matt Di Angelo as my side-kick Dean. 10 years has zipped by... As well as an actress these days, I can't quite believe that I'm also a mama - the two little faces looking up at me confirms this. The acting profession has always been somewhat precarious, so I'd be lying if I didn't fess up to say I'm slightly anxious at making it work (with childcare, why can't it be a BOGOF deal, paying for Nursery places for twins?) I want/ need to continue to do good work, I want to be a good Mummy to boot, where I can still be me and provide for my new family.
2016 is going to be a juggling act and I'm looking forward to embracing this challenge, watching two tiny human beings discover this mad, bad, wonderful world - thank god so many of you manage to do both on a daily basis - I'm sure I can too. Bring it on"