Another Corrie actress announces pregnancy

Coronation Street actress Samia Smith and her husband Matt have announced that they are expecting their first child.

The 26-year-old - who plays Weatherfield's pregnant Maria Connor - is 13 weeks pregnant and has become the ITV soap's 10th star to announce baby news in the past 18 months.

She is expected to give birth in October.

Speaking of the news, she said: "I have been pregnant on screen for the best part of the past two years and as soon as I get rid of the fake baby bump I will have a real one!"

The happy announcement comes only a week after the loss of her father Joseph, who passed away last week after a long battle with cancer. Smith added: "I am so pleased that we were able to tell my dad about the baby before he died."

Julia Haworth (Claire Peacock), Andrew Whyment (Kirk Sutherland) and Ryan Thomas (Jason Grimshaw), Alison King (Carla Gordon), Jack P Shepherd (David Platt) and Wanda Opalinska (Vicki Dankowska) and Jane Danson (Leanne Battersby) all became parents over the last 18 months.

Meanwhile, Graeme Hawley (John Stape) is due to become a father in June, while Simon Gregson (Steve McDonald) is expecting his second child with fiancée Emma Gleave later this year.