EastEnders and Strictly star Louisa Lytton has welcomed her first child

Congratulations are in order for EastEnders star Louisa Lytton who has announced the arrival of her baby.

The actress, best known for playing Ruby Allen on the BBC One soap, has welcomed her first child with her fiancé Ben Bhanvra, by posting a black and white photo of all their hands holding each other.

She captioned the photo: "And then there were three… ❤️ Welcome to the world, We are utterly overwhelmed with love."

Instagram

Plenty of her co-stars and celebrity pals have congratulated the pair, including Gurlaine Kaur Garcha, who wrote: "Congratulations beautiful girl xxxxxx", and onscreen husband James Bye who wrote: "CONGRATULATIONS!!!!@louisanastrilytton @bennnyy__."

Also commenting was Love Island winner Amber Davies who wrote: "Oh my gosh! Congratulations you beautiful soul xxx", and Louisa's former The Bill co-star Rhea Bailey who wrote: "Love love love this so much! I'm so happy for you both x x I can't wait to meet baby! Xx sheer perfection!!"

Back in July she filmed her final scenes on EastEnders before going on maternity leave and admitted she's not sure when she'll be going back to work.

Speaking on the podcast Made by Mammas, the actress weighed in on whether she plans to return to Walford after having the baby.

"I'm at home being a mum. I'm doing the thing I've wanted the most in life, so I don't think I'll be in a rush to go back to work," Lytton said.

"But then, at the same time, I don't know because that is who I am," she continued. "So will I have that moment of, 'I need a bit more of myself back again'?"

Lytton also explained that she wanted to see how she felt once the baby had arrived as she didn't know how she'll feel.

"I'm gonna stay home, give it a year, I think, of me not working. But if I decide to go back before or after, we'll work it out from there," she said.

EastEnders airs on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays on BBC One.