‘Thrilled’ Rachel Stevens and husband Alex Bourne announce they are expecting their first child

She has had her fair share of relationship heartaches over the years.

However, Rachel Stevens is celebrating today after announcing she is pregnant.

The 32-year-old star – who married actor Alex Bourne last August – will welcome her first child into the world in November, her representative has confirmed.

Her spokesperson said: ‘We are delighted to announce that Rachel Stevens and her husband Alex are expecting their first baby later this year.

‘The happy news comes just a few months before the couple will celebrate their first wedding anniversary.’

The 32-year-old singer added: ‘We are thrilled and so excited about becoming parents.’

Earlier this week, Rachel admitted she thought it would be ‘amazing’ to have children with Alex.

She said: ‘We’d absolutely love to have children. I think having children is the most amazing thing.

‘I don’t think I can tell what kind of mum I’d be until I go through it. It’s such a life-changing thing.

‘But I do have a little niece and nephew so I can just about change a nappy. Alex would be a great dad – he’s very hands-on.’

Thrilled: Rachel Stevens and husband Alex Bourne are expecting their first child, the couple were seen near their London home earlier this month

The news is expected to delay Stevens’ plans for a pop comeback.

She has not released an album since 2005′s Come And Get It, but recently admitted that she was in the ‘early stages’ of recording a follow-up.

Miss Stevens first shot to fame as part of S Club 7, the band put together by Spice Girls Svengali Simon Fuller.

She then launched a relatively successful pop career securing hits with songs Sweet Dreams My L.A. Ex, Some Girls and More More More.

But in recent years, she has become as well known for her looks as her music –with the star regularly featuring in Sexiest Women In The World lists in men’s magazines.

She also appeared on Strictly Come Dancing in 2008, in which she came second with her partner Vincent Simone.

The singer and Bourne, also 32, married last August at Claridges’ Hotel in central London. However, none of her former S Club bandmates were invited to the ceremony.

She was previously engaged to former Hollyoaks actor Jeremy Edwards. He proposed on Valentine’s Day 2002 – but they broke up in 2004.

Afterwards, Miss Stevens dated Gavin Dean, the son of former Arsenal vice-chairman David. She was also linked to US actor Stephen Dorff.

She and Bourne started dating at the beginning of 2007 and he proposed in June 2008.

Hi everyone.

Hope you are all well.

I haven’t been in touch for a while so just wanted to say hi and let you know that I’m in the process of planning lots of new and exciting things! I am really looking forward to filling you all in with everything that is going on when it’s all up and running but for now just wanted to say thank you for being so patient and for all of your ongoing support.

Wishing you all a fantastic Easter holiday!!!

Lots of love.
Rachel xx

Former S Club 7 star Hannah Spearritt caused a stir this weekend when she and a group of girlfriends arrived at Grafton Street haunt Lillie’s Bordello for a night on the tiles to celebrate her upcoming birthday.

The Diary caught up with the singer-turned-actress on Saturday night as she let her hair down at the celebrity hotspot after a day’s shopping in the city centre, explaining that it was the perfect spot to mark her birthday, which falls next Thursday.

Hannah (28) is no stranger to the venue, with her and former S Club bandmate Rachel Stevens memorably taking to the stage in the past to treat revellers to an impromptu set of the group’s songs.

The bubbly blonde, who is engaged to her Primeval co-star Andrew Lee Potts, was adamant, however, that she would not be taking to stage to sing this time, insisting that they were there for a quiet celebration and nothing more.

Production is now underway in Ireland on the new instalment of ITV’s hit cult series ‘Primeval’. 13 new episodes of the sci-fi drama will film on location there until early November.

The new series will feature the return of stars from the previous series including Hannah Spearritt, Andrew-Lee Potts, Ben Miller and Ben Mansfield.

Beginning 22nd of March shooting will continue until November 2010 on locations around Dublin and Wicklow. Locations Manager Dermot Cleary confirms the first block will see filming in Powerscourt Estate, The O2, Dublin port, Grand Canal Dock and Park West Business Park.

A team of twelve screenwriters have worked on the drama with series four picking up several months after the explosive conclusion to series three, which saw characters Danny, Connor and Abby stranded in different time periods.

Series four will screen on ITV1 from 2011 with series five continuing on UKTV’s new entertainment pay TV Channel, Watch.

Rachel Stevens looked every bit the ballerina in a luxurious golden tutu-esque dress.

The former Strictly Come Dancing star posed elegantly in her ballerina inspired outfit and appeared to enjoy her new role.

But sadly Rachel won’t be wowing us with her moves once again.

The singer was dressed up as a music box ballerina for the launch of Cadbury Flake’s ‘million lipsticks’ promotion.

At the event Rachel again confirmed that she’s planning a return to music. Rumours say she is going to be working with Xenomania and signed to Fascination Records. Rachel’s only comment to this: “It’s early days”.

Rachel Stevens posed as a contemporary ballerina in a giant music box to celebrate Flake's A Million Lipsticks promotion.

The magic of photography transformed Rachel Stevens into every girl's object of desire - the music box ballerina - at The Million Lips Launch Party for Cadbury Flake, who is giving away a million Benefit lipsticks on pack. With beautiful images like this, she could easily be the next Flake girl...

London dance studio, Danceworks, is offering a free dance class and Q&A with S Club’s Tina Barrett at 6pm on Monday January 18th.

The one off high energy class will involve fusions of jazz, hip hop and ballet to test your superstar credentials. There will also be a chance to ask Tina for any industry tips and advice afterwards.

The class is open to people of all skill levels, however Danceworks will also be looking for professional female dancers for an upcoming TV project.

Admission is free on a first come first served basis by reserving your place with Katy Teague.

While most women with a successful career over many years might look forward to starting a family, former S Club singer Rachel Stevens is determined to stay focused on work.

‘I am a real career girl, always working on new projects – I will not give it up,’ she said.

The 31-year-old pop star and Strictly Come Dancing contestant, who wed actor Alex Bourne in August, cheekily added: ‘We want babies but we’ve only been married a short time. Let’s just say we are doing a lot of practising.’

Hi everyone!

Hope you are all well. Bet you can’t wait for Chrimbo!? I’m very excited!

Sorry I’ve not been in touch for a while… It’s been crazy busy!

It was so great to be back on the Strictly final dancing again last weekend! I’d missed dancing so much and of course Vincent, so I was so excited to be back… I cant believe that it was a year ago… time flies but being back on the show was like I had never left!

Also, just so you all know, I’m going to be on the Strictly Christmas Special performing a Rumba… so don’t forget to tune in on Christmas day!

Some of you may have read in a couple of the papers that I’m getting back into music, it’s very early stages at the moment but I’m going into the studio in the new year… all very exciting! I’ll keep you all posted with what’s going on.

Anyway going to try and finish off my Christmas shopping now… so much to do!!!

Wishing you all a very happy Christmas and a wonderful New Year!

Lots of love.
Rachel xx

P.S. I’ve got lots to update on my official site in the New Year!

A new competition has been posted on the official Jon Lee site:

Happy Holidays everyone! It’s that time of year again, and Jon is home for Christmas and has come bearing gifts not only for his family, but for some of you guys too!

I have 5 brand new photos to give away which will be personally signed by Jon once the winners are announced.

The autographed photos will go to the first 5 people who can send me an e-mail to competition@jonleeofficial.com with a clear digital photograph OR scanned copy of their ticket to see Jon in Cinderella this Christmas along with their name.

The closing date for entries is 27 December 2009 and all winners will be contacted via e-mail. Good luck!

You can get your Cinderella tickets at www.ambassadortickets.com/woking.

Hannah Spearritt in photo shoot by Sven Arnstein from January 2007. Definitely one of the best Hannah photo shoots, now in HQ!

Primeval star Andrew-Lee Potts has claimed that producers have “shocking” plots planned for the new series.

The 30-year-old actor will soon reprise his role as Connor Temple on the ITV1 sci-fi show, which was recently given a surprise recommission for 13 more episodes.

In an interview with IESB, Potts commented: “It’s great coming back to play him. And then, also, I get to work with my fiancée Hannah Spearritt. When it was cancelled, it was such a shame because we enjoyed working with each other so much and we thought, ‘We might never do that again’. That made us sad.

“But, we’re going to be able to do that again. And we actually went out for dinner with all the producers the other day, and the storylines they’ve got and the stuff that’s going to happen this time is going to be really good. It’s very shocking as well.”

Potts also said that he always had a “gut feeling” the show would come back and is “really pleased” that he turned out to be correct.

Filming for Primeval will begin in March ahead of a 2011 return.

Finally, here are the scans of Rachel Stevens in the January 2010 FHM Magazine. As usual the new photoshoot is even better than the last one, but the article is also worth reading. Rachel talks about S Club, FHM cover shoots, and about her plans to return to music.

Rachel’s Strictly confession as she’s voted girl of the decade

She scores a perfect ten posing in her skimpies for these hot shots – after waltzing off with a Girl of the Decade gong from the lads’ mag FHM.

The former S Club 7 singer says we have her role on last year’s Strictly Come Dancing – partnering Vincent Simone – to thank for her saucy fancy-pants poses.

The beauty said: “I was probably in the best shape of my life. There’s no greater exercise for man nor woman to get you in shape.”

“I miss it. No wobbly bits, but you still feel womanly. That gave me confidence – I went far ruder with the lingerie than I’d ever been before.”

Rachel first graced the mag in 2000 and said she was stunned to be asked to pose then because she didn’t think she was hot enough. “It was really flattering,” she said. “You don’t really think of yourself as sexy.”

See more of Rachel in January’s FHM, on sale from Thursday.

The Mirror caught up with the lovely Rachel Stevens at Take That’s PlayStation 3 SingStar game launch, and she revealed she’s ready to get back to her one true love.

Rachel said: “I love music – that’s my main passion in life so I’m going to head back into the studio and start working on new music next year. I’ve had a nice break from recording and I’m ready to get back to what I truly love doing.”

Rachel and Alex photographed leaving the SingStar Take That Extravaganza at the Tabernacle in Notting Hill, London on November 25th. (UPDATE: 5 more pictures added)

Check out Bradley in this new music video together with Taj E and Juggy-D:

Click here to download the video (20.01 MB).

Hello everyone,

Sorry it’s been a while since I’ve written a blog but I wanted to wait for something worth talking about and boy it’s a goody.

It’s been marinating for a while and now it’s just about ready! Yes I’m very excited to announce I will be performing a track from my solo album for the very first time, no S Club 7 just me! live at the Born Free charity event, Wild and Live at the Royal Albert Hall.

It’s for a great cause and lots of different artists are performing including a peronal fav Bryan Adams.

So come down it’s gonna be a fun night we’ll have a dance.

Tina xxx