Actresses are certainly put through their paces on soaps, with catfights and dramatic breakdowns all part of life on the cobbles or Albert Square.
And another area that really puts them to the test is having to hide pregnancies on set when they are expecting in real life. Stars – and show bosses – have come up with a host of clever ways to keep the cameras off baby bumps during filming, trying everything from having the actress hold a massive bag to only shooting from the shoulders up.
We have a look at a few of the ingenious ways that soap sirens have kept their blossoming bellies on the down low.
Louisa Lytton
EastEnders star Louisa Lytton had to get creative when she was expecting her daughter in 2021. The actress, who plays Ruby Allen in the BBC soap, kept working while she was pregnant and as her character wasn’t having a baby, she had to make sure she looked the same as always.
She went with big clothes to disguise her tummy, opting for plenty of big floaty dresses. Sharing a snap on Instagram that showed her wearing one, she joked: “The covering bump saga continues.”
On a colder day in Walford, she also used a massive scarf to hide any sign of her bump
Helen Flanagan
Helen Flanagan also went with big clothes to hide her belly when she was pregnant with her second child and working on Coronation Street in 2018. But the Rosie Webster beauty also went with a colourful prop to distract viewers.
She told The Sun: “I’ve had lots of big pink handbags. I’ve been wearing a few more big coats and for some of my final scenes they bought me an extra-large floaty dress, which just falls and covers my bump.
“They’ve used different filming angles too.”
Emmerdale’s Roxy Shahidi had a baby in 2018, and beforehand shared that she had a couple of tricks up her sleeve. One was holding a laundry basket in front of her bump whenever her body was on camera, and another was wearing eye-catching jewellery that caught viewers’ attention and kept it off her mid-section.
“I’m sure as I get bigger it will get harder to hide it on camera, but we’ll have to resort to the old tricks of holding a laundry basket in front of the bump or wearing big earrings to distract from it,” the Leyla Harding star told OK! magazine.
Jennie McAlpine
Coronation Street’s Jennie McAlpine – who plays Fiz Stape – hid her bump behind a washing basket when she was expecting her third child last year. And when she was carrying her second, she even positioned herself behind a car every now and then to keep her belly under wraps.
Opening up on Loose Women, she shared: “Last time, I’m not joking, with baby number two we hid the bump behind a Ford Fiesta. The director said, ‘I think it would be nice if we had that car a little further into the shot.’
“Even the writers have put in a lot more ‘Fiz brings the washing in’ – there’s a lot more of that at the start of the script. I feel like she does a lot of washing anyway, but she’s going to be doing a lot more.”
Sair Khan
Corrie star Sair Khan managed to hide her pregnancy from fans for months. The actress, who plays Alya Nazir, had a little boy in May this year but fans had been in the dark until she announced it in December.
She had kept her tummy well covered at all times, even when she shared a video on Instagram documenting her holiday in California, which was while she was expecting. She cleverly used bags and bold clothes to conceal her tummy, and any shots that could have left the cat out of the bag were taken from far off.
