EastEnders star Kellie Bright, 44, pregnant with third child after ‘roller coaster’ IVF journey

EASTENDERS star Kellie Bright is pregnant again aged 44.

The star, who plays Linda Carter in the soap, is having a third child with husband Paul Stocker after what she called a "rollercoaster" IVF journey.

Kellie and Paul, 38, already have sons Freddy, nine, and Gene, four.

The soap favourite told magazine it had been a "roller coaster" getting pregnant again - but said she'd "always had an itch" for another child.

Kellie welcomed her first son naturally aged 34, before having IVF in her second pregnancy.

After Gene was born, Kellie stored three extra embryos. After failed pregnancy attempts with two of them, the final one became the couple's third child.

Kellie told OK!: "The first two embryos didn’t work.

"This baby inside me now was the last one we had – the last chance of a pregnancy, because at 44 we were not going through IVF again.

"I believe it was meant to be. But those three months, between September and November, were a real roller coaster."

Kellie also hit back at those who might criticise her for having a baby at her age, saying: "If I was a man having my third child at 44, no one would bat an eyelid."

She added her husband - who is in his 30s - is full of energy and is used to running around after their children.

She explained that the pair decided to try for a third child at the end of 2019 but their plans were put on hold by the coronavirus outbreak.

Kellie has been an EastEnders star since 2013, when she joined Albert Square as Mick Carter's wife Linda.

She explained that she told her bosses at the soap that she was pregnant early on that that they have granted her time off.