EastEnders star Laurie Brett has told how her Albert Square co-stars have been showering her with gifts and advice as she prepares to become a mother. The actress - who plays childless Jane Beale - is to become a mother for the first time at the age of 40 with her child due in May. She tells Hello! magazine: "I keep arriving at my dressing room to find that Steve McFadden (hard man Phil Mitchell) has left all sort of gifts outside my door, including a beautiful crib. "He's been like Santa," she said as she spoke about her pregnancy for the first time. Laurie, whose long-standing character Jane is unable to have a baby, said she has been receiving pregnancy advice from Jo Joyner - mother to twins in real life. Linda Henry (Shirley Carter) and Cheryl Fergison (who plays Heather Trott) have also promised to take her on a shopping spree. Laurie was planning to keep quiet about her pregnancy in the early days, but co-star Adam Woodyatt - her on-screen husband Ian Beale - realised. "He said, 'you're pregnant, aren't you?' It's not surprising that he knew as we spend more time with each other than we do with our partners. "I had suddenly become very sensitive to certain smells and I wasn't going out for cigarette breaks." She and boyfriend Johnny Milroy - whom she began dating last year - were not actively trying for a child, although both are delighted and Laurie had become broody. "I thought I would be very sad if it didn't happen. I felt as though something was missing from my life, and Johnny really listened and understood that." The full interview is in the new edition of Hello! magazine out now. Click here to watch whatsontv.co.uk's weekly soaps video preview, the Soap Scoop
