Shane Richie to become a dad again in three weeks

Shane Richie to become a dad again in three weeks
Shane Richie to become a dad again in three weeks (Image credit: PA Archive/Press Association Ima)

Shane Richie is 'over the moon' with the upcoming birth of his fifth child. The EastEnders actor, who plays loveable rogue Alfie Moon, has revealed his wife Christie (pictured) is eight months' pregnant with the couple's third child, who will be a girl. He kept quiet to avoid comparisons with his on-screen alter-ego, telling Hello!: "I wanted to keep the two things separate. It was important to me. This is my life with Christie, whereas on screen people see me as Alfie Moon." Shane's character is currently involved in EastEnders' cot death storyline, where Ronnie Branning (Samantha Womack) swapped her baby with the child of Alfie's wife Kat (Jessie Wallace). "Close family and friends and people at work knew. Jessie has been texting Christie all the time, but it never felt the right time to announce the pregnancy publicly," he continued. "People would keep asking me about the cot death and it would have felt strange tagging on the end, 'Oh, and by the way, we're expecting a baby.'" The 47-year-old - who also has two grown-up sons from his marriage with TV presenter Coleen Nolan - admitted Christie's real-life pregnancy has made his scenes on the soap more poignant. She is due to give birth on April 27. "It has made it all the more real knowing that Christie and I will be holding our new baby very soon," he said. "I've loved being back at EastEnders and I think they've handled the storyline brilliantly. I am really proud of the work we've all done."

Patrick McLennan

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.