“We’re so happy she’s here.”
Hollyoaks star Jamie Lomas has welcomed a baby daughter with his fiancée Jess Bell.
The couple, who have been together since 2021, became parents to Bella Nevaeh last month after an “emotional” labour.
Jamie and Jess had planned a “zen” home birth, but instead welcomed Bella in hospital after Jess’s labour lasted two days.
“I just felt a bit helpless. Everyone was rushing around and I was just standing there asking, ‘What can I do?’ I was in awe of Jess,” Jamie explained to OK! magazine.
“It’s such an emotional thing, though, your daughter being born. I cried for my other kids too.”
On how the family have adjusted to the new arrival, Jamie continued: “Things have been a little chaotic, as you can imagine, but we’re so happy she’s here. We’ve had a few visitors, including my sister Charley [Webb], it’s been amazing.”
Jess added: “Since we got home from the hospital, Bella has been such a dream baby. She’s putting on weight, she loves her food and, since I’m the source of that, I haven’t really had a minute.”
Jamie is already a dad to son Billy from a previous relationship and daughter Polly, who he shares from his previous marriage to Coronation Street and Waterloo Road star Kym Marsh. The two also welcomed late son Archie together in 2009, who passed away after being born 18 weeks early.
The actor, who plays Warren Fox on the Channel 4 soap, went on to explain that Polly was “so excited” to become a big sister.
“We got a scratch card that revealed, ‘I’m going to be a big sister’, and showed her a scan picture. She didn’t believe us at first, she kept going, ‘No, no way!'” he said.
“Polly has been asking for a while for a little brother or sister and we kept saying no, so she thought this was a joke.”
Jess added: “She was so excited when she found out it was real.”
Jamie and dentist Jess met through friends in 2021, before getting engaged in 2023 during a romantic holiday in Mexico.
In February, the couple took to Instagram to announce they were expecting their first child together. They shared the happy news with a sweet photo of themselves beaming and holding up scan photos and a soft teddy bear.
Many of Jamie’s Hollyoaks co-stars shared their congratulations in the comments section, including Cleo McQueen actor Nadine Mulkerrin and Felix Westwood star Richard Blackwood.
Hollyoaks streams first online via Channel 4 each weekday at 7.30pm. Episodes then air on E4 the following day, before getting their YouTube premiere a week after that.
