Amanda Holden 'beyond thrilled' to be pregnant

Amanda Holden is pregnant with a baby girl. The star, who will curtail her run in West End hit Shrek The Musical as a result, said she and husband Chris Hughes were 'beyond thrilled'. The confirmation comes just six months after she was devastated to lose a baby seven months into her pregnancy. The Britain's Got Talent judge said the past few months had been 'unbelievably difficult' as they came to terms with their loss. Amanda, 40, lost a baby boy in February. The child had stopped moving and was later stillborn. It was a further blow after the actress - who has a daughter Lexi, five - suffered a miscarriage in 2010. Announcing her new pregnancy, she said: "Chris and I are delighted to announce that I am pregnant and we are expecting a little girl. The first half of this year has been unbelievably difficult for us. "We would like to thank everyone for their support, it has been so incredible and we really are beyond thrilled to share this news." It is not known how far she is into the pregnancy, but she has passed the three-month stage. Amanda, whose TV hits include Cutting It and Amanda Holden's Fantasy Lives, has been starring in Shrek as green-skinned Princess Fiona since early May. She will step down from the show in October and is due to be replaced by Girls Aloud star Kimberley Walsh - two months earlier than originally planned.

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Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix.

An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.