Rachel Riley was all smiles as she enters the final few weeks of her pregnancy, cradling her baby bump as she leaves the Countdown studio.
Pictured as she was leaving Media City in Manchester where she films the Channel 4 daytime puzzle show, Rachel couldn’t stop beaming as she wrapped up warm in a big winter coat with casual jeans and jumper and comfortable trainers.
Rachel also wore her poppy, celebrating the Royal British Legion’s annual appeal.
The star has teamed up with some of the Legion’s 40,000 poppy sellers to shine a light on their fundraising efforts supported by GCHQ – the Government’s intelligence, cyber and security agency, which is in its centenary year.
The campaign will help to highlight how the money raised every year is used to support serving and former members of the British armed forces and their families, and the sacrifices they have made.
The 33-year-old announced she was pregnant with her first child to husband, former Strictly Come Dancing professional Pasha Kovalev, in May, as she confirmed the news on her Instagram page.
She shared a snap of her in front of the famous Countdown board, as letters could be seen spelling out the words ‘r tiny mate’ – an anagram of the word ‘maternity’, while she placed her hands on her baby bump.
‘Pash and I have a conundrum for you… you have till December to work it out!’ she said.
‘We’re over the moon, excited.’
Rachel first met Pasha when the two were partnered together on Strictly Come Dancing in 2013, and went official with their romance the following year in September 2014.
The pair subsequently tied the knot in a ceremony in July in Las Vegas but the ceremony was ‘so secret’, that the couple’s friends and family were said to be unaware of the nuptials, according to a source from The Sun.
‘By keeping everything a closely guarded secret, they pulled it off and surprised their loved ones. Naturally, everyone is delighted,’ the insider said.
This is Rachel’s second marriage – she was previously married to Jamie Gilbert between August 2012 and November 2013, with their split being cited as an example of the so-called ‘Strictly curse’.
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