Nikki Sanderson has announced she has given birth to her first child, a baby boy, with her partner Anthony Quinlan.

The soap star, 42, announced the joyful news on Instagram as they revealed their baby boy had been born a few days before his due date.

Taking to Instagram on Saturday, Nikki shared a picture of her and Anthony's son, whose name she is yet to reveal, with the words: 'Hello world.'

She captioned the snap: 'Happy due date little man. You blessed our lives a few days earlier than expected and filled our world with so much joy.

'Daddy and Mummy love you so much Son.'

Nikki's famous pals flooded the comments with congratulatory messages, with Denise Welch writing: 'Nikki!!! Omg!! You're a mummy. We're so happy for you both xxx.' 

'OMG, BEST NEWS GUYS ❤️❤️,' said Strictly's Gorka Marquez, while Hollyoaks star Jessica Fox added: 'Massive congratulations! Well done everybody! ❤️.'

Elsewhere Helen Skelton shared love hearts and Hollyoaks' Haiesha Mistry said: 'Huge congratulations ❤️❤️❤️.' 

Another former Hollyoaks co-star of the couple, Nadine Mulkerrin, said: 'Congratulations guys - what a head of hair!!! Xxxxx.' 

Emmerdale star Charley Webb wrote: 'All that hair! just like Buster was. Welcome to the world little one ♡ ♡ ♡ .'

After finding out the gender of her child last month, Nikki said: 'Anthony and I always said that we didn't mind what we were having as long as our baby is healthy. There was no, "I'd love this or that" - we were just over the moon. 

'But subconsciously, I always felt like I was going to be a boy mum and my family said the same. I just kept envisioning a baby boy in my arms.'

Nikki added in an interview with Closer: 'Anthony's thrilled because he's going to have a mini Manchester United sidekick!'

During her pregnancy, Nikki shared she was craving sweet food, experiencing morning sickness, carrying low and had the 'pregnancy glow'. 

Speaking to The Mirror about their pregnancy journey, Nikki, who quit her role as Hollyoaks' Maxine Minniver last April, said the couple are 'over the moon'.

She said: 'We're happy to say it's going to be a lovely little spring baby.'

Anthony, who previously starred in Hollyoaks and Emmerdale and now runs an online PT and supplements business, said he 'can't wait till we're a little team of three. I want to shout it from the rooftops!'

The loved-up pair have been dating since the start of 2022 after Anthony publicly announced their partnership in April, confessing he was 'really, really happy'.

Previously speaking about their relationship in 2022 to The Sun, the star admitted: 'I’ve always fancied her. She’s mega hot, right?'

He added: 'We’ve known each other for years... There were rumours we met at the gym, which we had a bit of a laugh about. 

'I slid into the DMs and that was it. I was lucky enough to get a date and the rest is history. All I can say is I'm really, really happy and she's a very special girl. She's lovely.'