Former Brookside star Jennifer Ellison has spoken of her surprise at learning she is five months pregnant. Ellison, who is already a mum to three-year-old Bobby, assumed she couldn't have any more children because she suffers from large ovarian cysts. She became suspicious after boxer husband Robbie Tickle told her "You look pregnant," after watching her in pantomime earlier this year. "Shut up! It's just the costumes," was her reply at the time.

Tickle was so sure that his wife was pregnant again that he woke her up with a pregnancy test and made her take it. "I nearly fell off the toilet," she told the Daily Mirror of her surprise at the positive reading, "We've been in complete and utter shock. We'd just come to terms with the fact that we probably weren't going to be having another baby anytime soon - and now we're getting ready to do it all over again. I'm almost five months now, I can't believe I'm going to be having another baby in July!"

Though Ellison is delighted with the news, it mean she'll have to pass on her planned 30th birthday celebrations, or at least do the whole thing sober. "I wanted to get my 30th birthday over with. We had planned to go to Ibiza too, but that holiday's cancelled now!"

The actress returned to TV screens in 2012, partnering Daniel Whiston on Dancing On Ice. The pair were voted out in the semi-final, finishing in fourth place.

Jennifer EllisonJennifer Ellison At The Whatsonstage.com Awards Earlier This Year