Corrie's Hawley to become a dad

Coronation Street actor Graeme Hawley and his wife Elianne are to become parents.

Elianne is due to give birth to her and Hawley's first child in the summer, reports the Manchester Evening News.

Hawley, who plays John Stape on the ITV soap, is the ninth Corrie star to announce the arrival of a baby within the last year.

"There's definitely something in the water over there," he joked. "The creche will be bigger than the set at this rate! Elianne is 19 weeks now and she's been doing ever so well, we're delighted.

"I heard they'd been placing bets on who would be the next to announce a pregnancy on Corrie, so I missed a trick there really."

Kym Marsh, Jane Danson, Alison King, Wanda Opalinska and Jack P. Shepherd will all become parents this year, while Andy Whyment, Ryan Thomas and Julia Haworth welcomed babies in 2008.

Samia Smith last month said that the soap has been nicknamed "Fertilisation Street" due to the recent baby boom.