Former EastEnders actress Brooke Kinsella has given birth to a 'miracle' baby boy, who was born on the 14th anniversary of her beloved brother Ben's death.
The soap star, 38, who played Kelly Taylor on the show, took to Instagram on Wednesday afternoon to announce she had welcomed her second child with husband Simon Boardley, 43.
Sharing the first snap of her newborn son who looked adorable wrapped up in a blanket, Brooke wrote: "Ben Ross Boardley 29/06/22.
"A perfect miracle given to us on a day when so much was taken away. Named after the very best of men. He will do them so proud, I know it already".
Fans and friends took to the comment section to congratulate Brooke and Simon on Ben's arrival.
One wrote: "Congratulations, he is beautiful." While another follower typed: "Welcome to the world Ben Ross Boardley named after wonderful young man. A perfect gift to ease the pain of a day that took so much from you".
Brooke's brother Ben was tragically stabbed to death in on June 29 in 2008 when he was just 16.
Since her brother's death, the actress founded the Ben Kinsella Trust, a charity set up to educate young people away from knife crime and youth violence.
Brooke is already proud mum to daughter Elsie, 19 months.
The couple tied the knot in 2017, and Brooke has made no secret of the fact she wanted a little brother or sister for Elsie, who was born in September 2020.
She previously told OK!: "I come from a really big family and I’m so close to my siblings. Having someone to go through life with is really important and I’d love to give Elsie that. There’s plenty of room in our home for another little one.
"We’re not getting any younger, so obviously we need to think about these things, but I’m not in a rush.
"I want to enjoy Elsie as a first-time mum and give her all the love and support that she needs. We’ll leave it up to the universe and see what happens."
The actress has been awarded an MBE for her charity work and has previously spoken of her heartache that Elsie will never have a relationship with her uncle.
She once said: "It’s a double-edged sword. Being Elsie’s mum is everything I’ve ever wanted, but on the other hand I can’t help but think about everyone who isn’t here to meet her. For me, the main person missing out is Ben.
"Obviously, I love Elsie more than anything and having loved Ben so much as well it’s heartbreaking to know the two of them will never get the chance to meet."
And little Elsie is also a reminder of Ben, as Brooke said during an appearance on Loose Women last year that her little girl resembled her late uncle.
She said she felt Ben's presence from the moment she realised she was pregnant, saying: "As soon as I bought the Clearblue packet, I saw the word BEN. It was him making his presence known.
"Losing a sibling... who was one of my best friends... was hard. The thought of losing a child is utterly horrendous. Now I know what there is to lose, it broke my heart all over again."
In 2018, Brooke returned to EastEnders in a different role - helping them research knife crime for a storyline that saw Shakil Kazemi stabbed to death by a gang member.
