The fitness star reveals the happy news on Instagram with a sweet snap that shows off her blossoming bump

Lucy Mecklenburgh has announced she is expecting her first child with fiancée Ryan Thomas.

The former TOWIE star revealed the exciting baby news on Instagram last night as part of her 28th birthday celebrations.

Sharing a photo of herself surrounded by gold and silver balloons, cradling her tiny bump and opening a present, which ended up being a baby grow from father-to-be Ryan, she captioned the snap: "Best birthday present I’ve ever had love you @ryanthomas84."

Best birthday present I’ve ever had 👶🤰 love you @ryanthomas84 ❤️🥰

A post shared by Lucy Mecklenburgh (@lucymeck1) on Aug 24, 2019 at 12:07pm PDT

The fitness star's best friend Lydia Bright, who is also pregnant with her first child, was quick to comment on the post, writing: "Wohooooooooo, we can finally scream it from the roof tops. Can’t wait for our babies to be best friends."

To which Lucy replied: "bubbas that r besties! love you.. our secrets r finally out."

The news comes just two months after the former Coronation Street actor, 35, popped the question on a romantic trip to Italy after two years of dating.

Birthday celebrations part 1! 🥰🎂😌

A post shared by Lucy Mecklenburgh (@lucymeck1) on Aug 24, 2019 at 1:27am PDT

Earlier this summer, Lucy explained that Ryan wasn't sure about having more kids in the future as he is already father to Scarlett, ten, from a previous relationship with ex Corrie co-star Tina O'Brien.

She told OK! Magazine: “At the start of our relationship, Ryan told me that he couldn’t see himself having any more children.

“It wasn’t something I pushed at the time because I wasn’t ready to have kids and I assumed that he would change his mind one day.

Danced & laughed all night 💃🏻❤️🥰 now time to plan the wedding 😊 Thank you @elari_events for decorating the boat even better than we envisaged! Brief was dolce & gabbana florals, Amalfi coast, lemons, Italian colours... and wow the balloon & floral Italian sensation you created was out of this world! Couldn’t recommend them enough if you are having an event/party/ wedding 🎈🍋🌺

A post shared by Lucy Mecklenburgh (@lucymeck1) on Aug 5, 2019 at 11:29am PDT

But as their relationship progressed, so did Ryan's desires for a bigger family.

She continued: “It’s something we’ve since had to have an adult conversation about and we’ve agreed we will try for children when the time is right."

Ryan added: “I definitely want children with Lucy but I don’t think it’ll happen for a few years.”

Lucy recently explained to fans that she and partner Ryan, who met on Celebrity Island with Bear Grylls, are currently splitting their time between Manchester and London.

During a Q&A on social media, she said: "We will always have 2 homes north and south.

It works well for us right now and we don’t see it changing anytime soon.”

The pair, who celebrated their recent engagement with a huge boat party on the River Thames, are yet to set wedding plans in stone as Lucy revealed they have both been "super busy" but now she "can’t wait to start planning".

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