Emmerdale actress announces she's pregnant with her first child with actor husband

Emmerdale actress Roxy Shahidi has announced she's expecting her first child with her actor husband Arsher Ali.

Roxy, who is known for playing Leyla Harding in the ITV soap, revealed her happy news came as a shock to OK! Magazine.

Admitting herself and Arsher had only been trying for a few weeks before she got pregnant, Roxy said, "To be honest, I was absolutely terrified when I saw the test was positive. I burst into tears. We had only been trying for a few weeks and I was sure it was going to take us much longer! It took a few weeks before I got my head around it but, once I did, I was filled with joy."

The actress also admitted that her Emmerdale co-star and fellow mum Charley Webb actually guessed she was expecting before the news broke.

She added, "We had been working together and she called me when I got home and said my boobs gave it away."

The 34-year-old also revealed the couple will welcome a baby girl later in the year. Speaking about name choices, Roxy told the publication that the couple have started looking at names and they've already picked one out for their new arrival.

She said, "We wanted something quite unusual", but also said they won't be telling anybody until the newborn arrives.

Roxy first met Asher when they starred in a play together. After hitting it off they then married in 2014. Asher has starred in a number of high profile TV shows including The Missing, Four Lions and Channel 4's Ackley Bridge.

Roxy first joined Emmerdale back in August 2008 and later departed 2011. She then made a return to the soap back in 2013 when she appeared in two episodes at Christmas time. Leyla returned to the soap full time in January 2014.

Roxy's real life is thankfully a lot happier than her character's. On the soap the jilted bride is heartbroken that Pete Barton called off their wedding and relationship and then the pain was made even worse when it was revealed Pete had been sleeping with her best friend, Priya Kotecha,

Congratulations to the happy couple! 👶

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She's set for even more devastation when it's revealed that he had been cheating with her best friend Priya Kotecha