After weeks of hiding her pregnancy, Natalie Cassidy is proudly showing off her burgeoning baby bump. Cassidy was spotted a week after she announced she was expecting her first child with boyfriend Adam Cottrell.

 Having just entered her second trimester after receiving her 12 week scan, Cassidy is enjoying wearing her normal wardrobe before she switches to loose-fitting maternitywear. Cassidy's pregnancy comes just nine months after she met transport manager Cottrell at the Isle Of Wight Festival. They met two months after Cassidy ended her engagement to Ben Porter, 40.

She said: 'We haven't really gone public with our relationship, so I guess this will seem a bit sudden to some people. But it was a whirlwind romance for us too, I guess. We feel like we've known each other for ever.' Cassidy said she hoped her pregnancy would take the focus off her weight, which has been a frequent topic in the media after she famously dropped several dress sizes and released a fitness DVD.

She said: 'I hope people realise that I really do have better priorities than caring what they say about what I'm eating or wearing - I just want to concentrate on being a brilliant mum.'
Natalie, who has polycystic ovaries, was concerned she would struggled to conceive.

She said: 'I wanted children so much, it was a worry. I came off my contraception in November but I never thought I'd get pregnant that quickly!'

The pregnancy comes as welcome good news for Natalie, whose 'surrogate' mother and former EastEnders co-star Wendy Richard died last year. Natalie's own mother Evelyn died of bowel cancer in 2002.

'It's been very emotional. Since I heard I was pregnant, I've missed Mum more than ever. But I feel like I'm being looked after from above.'

Editor: Ah! Good luck to the 3 of them :)