Baby joy for Hollyoaks' Alex Fletcher as she welcomes her second child

Soap star Alex Fletcher has welcomed her second child into the world.

The 40-year-old actress, who first appeared in Brookside in the 1990s and currently plays Diane O'Connor in Hollyoaks, confirmed the birth of her baby boy to HELLO! magazine, saying he was the 'greatest gift' she could wish for.

Alex and her husband Neil are already parents to 11-year-old daughter Yasmin, and have chosen to name their son Hanson.

'Hanson is the best birthday present I could wish for,' Alex told the mag, as he arrived just a few short weeks before her 40th birthday. 'I have my two kids, a lovely husband and we are all healthy.'

Alex pictured during her pregnancy

However, Hanson's arrival is all the most poignant, as Alex suffered an ectopic pregnancy in 2015.

'Having the ectopic pregnancy last year was sad and scary,' she admitted. 'It made me really negative and doubt that it would ever happen. I wondered whether things were not working properly because I was older.'

'You think, "It's my fault. Have I been selfish?"'

'It made me realise how much I wanted another baby. Having gone through all that has made his arrival all the more precious.'

She also revealed that the couple were trying again for four months before Hanson's conception.

Alex's husband Neil and daughter Yasmin

Alex and Neil met when he appeared in Brookside as Alex's character Jacqui's boyfriend in 2000, and they welcomed Yasmin in 2005.

In 2012, she told the Liverpool Echo that she'd love to expand her brood, saying, 'I’m certainly thinking about it – every day. I would love to have another one.'

'It would be nice to have a little baby again – and for Yasmin to have a brother or a sister.'

When she announced that she was expecting again in March 2016, she added, 'It's so thrilling and slightly surreal. I'm still on a bit of a high about it all.'