Shane Richie to be a dad again

Shane Richie is to be a father for the fifth time.

The 'EastEnders' star's wife Christie - with who he already has two children, Mackenzie Blue, four, and two-year-old Lolita-Belle - is eight months pregnant and the actor admits they kept their happy news under wraps because it didn't seem appropriate to reveal it while discussing his soap character Alfie Moon's current plot.

Alfie and his wife Kat (Jessie Wallace) are struggling to come to terms with the death of her baby Tommy, though viewers are aware that it was actually Ronnie Branning's son stricken by cot death, with the grief-stricken mum secretly swapping the infants.

Shane said: "People would keep asking me about the cot death storyline and it would have felt strange tagging on the end, 'Oh, and by the way, we're expecting a baby.' "

Christie, 31, also admitted she hasn't been able to watch the scenes, which included Ronnie (Samantha Womack) finding her newborn dead, and says it was too difficult watching her husband portray a grieving father.

She explained to HELLO! magazine: "As I'm sure any expectant mum will tell you, there are things you choose to avoid when you're pregnant. Obviously I wasn't going to watch the moment when Ronnie's baby died.

"My closeness to Shane makes it hard to watch him play such moving and powerful scenes, as I think he's played them so unbelievably well.

"I know in a few months I will watch the episodes I missed because I've heard how fantastic they are."

Shane, 47 also has two sons, 22-year-old Shane Jr. and Jake, 18, from his marriage to TV presenter Coleen Nolan.