Aston Merrygold announces he's welcomed first child with girlfriend Sarah Richards

Aston Merrygold has announced he's welcomed his first child with girlfriend Sarah Richards.

The proud new dad took to Instagram to share the lovely baby news with fans, revealing that their bundle of joy entered the world yesterday.

In the sweet post, he also revealed the pair had a baby boy, and the baby name they picked - Grayson Jax.

Alongside an adorable picture of father and son, he wrote: 'Grayson Jax Merrygold 30/01/2018 @sarahlourichards life is now complete ❤'.

Many fans and friends of the couple were quick to congratulate them on their new arrival, including his former Strictly co-star Gemma Atkinson, who said: 'Beautiful! Congratulations.'

Aston announced he was going to become a dad for the first time with a sweet post on social media, saying: ''On May 29th 2017 we found out that our lives were going to change forever!'

'This secret has been so hard to keep, but I'm so excited to finally be able to share the news with everybody that me and my beautiful lady @sarahlourichards are going to be parents!!!!!! 😃❤🌍😍 I'm NEVER speechless but words can't describe how I feel.'

'All I know is there's no feeling like it! Sar I promise to be the best daddy ever to our baby boy/girl. You are an amazing woman and going to be the greatest mum to our child! Thank you for continuously making me the happiest man ever! I love you❤ hurry up bump we can't wait to meet you'.

The couple decided not to find out whether they would be having a boy or a girl, but did say at the time that their due date was in January.

Aston and Sarah have been together for four years, after meeting when she was a professional dancer on The X Factor.

The two got engaged over Christmas, before welcoming their first child, with Aston sharing the news on Instagram by writing: 'Allow me to introduce you all to my fiancée💍'.