Hollyoaks actress Jorgie Porter has revealed that she had a missed miscarriage in August while carrying quadruplets. The 33-year-old was around 14 weeks pregnant when she and boyfriend Ollie Piotrowski were told at a scan that they had lost all four.

In her first interview since the painful news, Jorgie told The Sun’s Fabulous magazine that she had no indication that things weren’t progressing as normal. “It didn’t make sense,” she said. “I’d not had any sign that things weren’t OK. No pain or bleeding, I was getting bigger, my boobs were growing, I had so much hair on my body and I still felt pregnant. When the consultant performed the scan then said: ‘You’ve miscarried,’ I was in total shock.”

Even though her initial pregnancy symptoms were quite extreme - including “ginormous” boobs overnight, irritability, and an insatiable hunger - when it came to the loss, all of the typical signs like heavy bleeding and cramps weren't there. Also known as a 'silent' or 'delayed miscarriage', a missed miscarriage is when the baby has died in the womb but the mother doesn’t typically find out until a routine ultrasound.

Jorgie admits she shed a few tears when Little Mix singer Leigh-Anne Pinnock recently welcomed twins, adding: “I felt a pang of pain, thinking: ‘We would have had that.’ It was a grieving process, but only because I’d dared to imagine life with them in it.”

The actress was apparently “knocked for six” when she initially found out she was expecting but it was a mixture of panic and excitement to discover at a private six-week scan that she was carrying four babies.

Although Jorgie’s mum Julie, 62, is a twin, the chances of conceiving quadruplets naturally is as rare as 700,000-to-one. Being a mum wasn’t always something Jorgie saw for herself. Last November, she said “I never, ever thought I would, or ever imagined” starting a family, but within seven months of dating Ollie, she decided to come off her contraceptive pill. The couple met during lockdown last October and found out they were expecting only a few weeks after trying for a baby.

She's decided to open up about her miscarriage to help others realise they're not alone. “Since it happened, a couple of women at work have had miscarriages and I’ve taken them aside and gone: ‘Me too. I get it.’ It’s OK to talk.”

If you're looking for support or more information about premature births, stillbirths or miscarriage, Tommy's have a free helpline 0800 0147 800 (open 9-5, Monday to Friday). There's also a Facebook group.