BBC star, 40, reveals she’s given birth after secret pregnancy
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Peaky Blinders star Charlene McKenna has revealed she’s given birth (Picture: BBC/ Caryn Mandabach Productions Ltd./ Matt Squire)
Peaky Blinders actress Charlene McKenna has revealed she welcomed her first child three months ago.
The Irish actress, 40, played Laura McKee in the final two seasons of the BBC period drama, and has also appeared in Ripper Street and Bloodlands.
She’s now spoken about welcoming her first child with husband Adam Rothenberg earlier this year.
During an interview with Kay Sheehy on RTE Radio 1, the presenter teased that Charlene was ‘busy with a new production’ and a ‘beautiful production’ of her own before the actress shared the news.
‘I think it’s an incredibly special and poignant and beautiful production, if I do say so myself,’ she said before speaking about her daughter, Martha Josephine.
‘I had a little baby, so I’ve been kind of out of the loop for a long time now. I’ve just been in nesting mode and enjoying my little girl. She’s just, she’s very special.’
The actress and husband Adam Rothenberg welcomed daughter Martha Jospehine in March (Picture: Kyle Goldberg/ BFA.com/ Rex/ Shutte)
Although the actress has been keeping her family life private, she joked the 3-month-old is ‘already’ giving her chat.
Her exciting news comes a day after former Peaky Blinders co-star Sophie Rundle announced she was ‘riding a heavenly wave of perfect love’ after giving birth to her second child.
The actress, 36, is best known for playing Ada Thorne on all six seasons of the BBC period drama, as well as starring in Gentleman Jack, Bodyguard, Happy Valley, The Bletchley Circle and Jamestown.
In 2021 she welcomed son Henry with actor Matt Stokoe, whom she met on the set of Jamestown in 2016.
Sophie Rundle also welcomed her second child recently (Picture: Sophie Rundle/ Instagram)
On Sunday the actress revealed they had welcomed their second child with a sweet post on social media.
‘He’s here. 🌙🪐✨ I am fully ready and expecting to nosedive off the hormonal cliff edge at any moment but for now I am riding this heavenly wave of perfect love,’ she posted on Instagram alongside a photo of her holding the newborn and a close up snap of her baby.
‘I only want to stay in this bed, tending to my exhausted happy bones, sniffing his delicious head and grandly announcing that he is wearing an archival look from the 2021 collection every time I put him in one of his brother’s old baby grows. (I am perhaps a tad delirious at this point.) Oh wow, the love the love the love.
‘Special thanks to the incredible team at @stroudmaternity for bringing him here so safely and happily and for looking after us so expertly, we are so grateful. ❤️’ she added.
Jamestown star Max Beesley commented: ‘Over the moon for you darling. Congrats to you all xxxxxx.’
The actress played Ada Shelby in all six seasons of Peaky Blinders (Picture: BBC/ Caryn Mandabach Productions Ltd 2019/ Matt Squire)
Faye Mckeever wrote: ‘Oh mate, how beautiful! Congrats to you and Matt ❤️ lots of love xxx’
Meanwhile actress Courtney Halverson added: ‘Oh congratulations lovely! May you get all the rest you can while you two get to know each other!’
Sophie previously confirmed she was expecting her second child during an appearance on The One Show in January, before sharing photos of her bump three months later.
Earlier this year her latest project with fiancé Matt, After the Flood, also hit screens.
The ITV crime mystery saw them play a couple, with Matt telling Hello! this marked their fourth time working on a series together.
Sophie also recently starred in After the Flood alongside fiancé Matt Stokoe (Picture: Jo Hale/ Getty Images)
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‘We’ve definitely got a shorthand and we’re not the kind of couple anyway that just goes around all over each other,’ he said.
‘Since 2016, we’ve on and off worked together so we know each other as colleagues almost as well as we know each other as partners so we have a way of working. It’s not a case of being professional or being discreet or anything like that. It’s just I go to my trailer, you go to your trailer and then when we get home, we don’t talk about lines because otherwise it just engulfs your life.
‘We have our work heads, and we have our home heads and never the two shall meet and that just seems to be the way that it works for us.’
Sophie previously told You magazine they were in no rush to get married and joked she wasn’t a ‘very good bride-to-be’ and wasn’t keen on ‘the world of big wedding productions’.
Peaky Blinders is streaming on BBC iPlayer.
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