Aliona Vilani has given birth.
Aliona Vilani
The former 'Strictly Come Dancing' star announced late last year that she and husband Vincent Kavanagh were expecting their first child together and Aliona, 33, has now revealed that they have welcomed a little girl called Bella.
It is not clear exactly when Bella was born but Aliona told HELLO! magazine: "I feel so lucky...
"We genuinely feel so blessed and happy. We got lucky. She's very chilled. Vincent is too - as am I when I'm not working."
Aliona admitted she and Vincent have not told many people about the birth but former 'Strictly' contestant Anita Dobson - who introduced them - and her husband Brian May knew, along with her dancing partner, Jay McGuiness.
She said: "They are such close friends of ours, we have sent pictures. No one else really knows yet, apart from Jay. A couple of weeks after Bella was born Jay messaged me asking if the 'little one' had arrived, so we sent him a couple of pictures."
Meanwhile, Aliona, 33 - who left the BBC One series in December 2015 - previously claimed the 'Strictly Come Dancing' workload didn't give her much time to have a child.
She said: "'Strictly' is a really full-on show, so basically you have to take five months out of your life. You don't see your friends, you don't see your family, you don't have any days off. Let's say I want to start a family and have a baby - I don't want to take five months out of my life and not be with my child, especially in the beginning. So I think I really had to step away."
And Aliona only wishes she could have stayed on the show and raised a family too.
She added: "When I decided I knew what I was doing, but I kind of have no other choice. I really want to start a family with my husband and I can't just take five months out of my life and not be with my family, without any days off.
"I don't mind if I would have a day or two days off - maybe that would change my mind - but with 'Strictly' you can't have that. Every year the cast is always amazing, and every year there's new dancers, and some of the previous dancers would leave the show, so it's good. The show is evolving, the cast is evolving, so it's amazing. I think it's good, it's healthy."
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