Coronation Street's Shayne Ward expecting child with fiancée

Former Coronation Street star Shayne Ward and his fiancée Sophie Austin have revealed they're expecting their second child together. Congratulations to both!

Shayne, who played Aidan Connor for three years until his exit in 2018, welcomed his first child with Austin back in 2016. The couple got engaged a year later.

Announcing the happy news, Shayne admitted the last few years had been "a whirlwind", but that the family is delighted to be welcoming another daughter to "the Ward clan".

Opening up about the couple's IVF treatment prior to conceiving, the singer-turned-actor told Hello! magazine: "We never gave up. It's been a whirlwind.

shayne ward and sophie austin, instagram

Shayne Ward//Instagram

"And 16 years after I appeared on The X Factor, I have a beautiful family and one on the way. I am on cloud nine. It's amazing that we're going to have another girl to add to the Ward clan."

Sophie, who fell pregnant naturally after an unsuccessful round of IVF, also shared her experience of the process, calling it "emotionally draining".

"It was one of the most emotionally draining things we have ever been through," she explained. "And for Shayne, it was quite a hard process because he wasn't physically going through it but it was just as tough for him."

Shayne and Sophie will welcome their second child later this year in May.

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The couple's news comes just a few months after Shayne revealed the surprising reason he managed to land the role of Aidan Connor in Corrie.

"That was a complete stars-have-aligned moment," he said of the gig last year. "A load of people were messaging me on social media saying 'Congratulations on your new role as the bad boy in Coronation Street.'"

Shayne soon realised that fans were confusing him with future co-star Sean Ward, who played Callum Logan, which then piqued Corrie bosses' interest.

"[The show] then contacted my management at the time and asked If I'd like to come down for an audition," he recalled. "I was there." And the rest, as they say, is history.

Coronation Street airs on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 7.30pm on ITV.