Nicole Appleton has given birth to a baby girl, the star has announced on Instagram. Nicole kept her pregnancy a secret for the whole nine months, and took to Instagram on Thursday to reveal that she and boyfriend Stephen Haines have welcomed a daughter named Skipper. Alongside a series of heartmelting photos of the new family, the former All Saints singer wrote: "After hiding my pregnancy for the last 9 months...which was SOOOOO difficult & keeping her a secret from all my friends...I can finally announce our incredible news!!..Our little girl ‘Skipper Hudson Haines’ has arrived Stephen & Gene are besotted!!! I’m SOOO HAPPY! [sic]."
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In the first photo, Nicole and Stephen can be seen doting on little Skipper. The second photo is a close up of the newborn's face, while the third shows Nicole sitting upright in bed as she cradles her baby bump. Needless to say, fans were thrilled by the news and took to the comment section of the singer's post to say so. One wrote: "What lovely news, congratulations!" Another added: "Oh wow! This is amazing news."
© Photo: InstagramNicole shared the news on Instagram
The new mum and dad have been together since 2019, with the latter living in the US. What's more, the social media mogul is close friends with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg – could a godfather title be on the cards?
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© Photo: InstagramNicole kept her pregnancy secret
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The exciting news follows a difficult couple of years for Nicole, who in 2018 was pictured looking rather cosy with Take Me Out host, Paddy McGuinness. Amid growing speculation about their friendship, the pair eventually unfollowed each other on Instagram. That same year, Nicole liked 178 of Paddy's Instagram posts. The rumoured romance prompted Paddy's wife of eight years, Christine McGuinness, to share a cryptic message on social media, writing: "When you realise you deserve so much more… that's not a bad thing." Paddy and Christine have been married since June 2011, and share three children - four-year-old twins Penelope and Leo, and daughter Felicity, who was born in September 2016.
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