EastEnders' Nancy Carter star opens up over real-life pregnancy

EastEnders actor Maddy Hill has opened up about her real-life pregnancy as her character Nancy Carter is embarking on a dramatic baby storyline.

In the soap, Nancy is carrying a baby for her brother Lee and his girlfriend Jess, although the surrogacy arrangement has become ever so slightly complicated by the fact that they'd split up.

In a behind-the-scenes video showcasing her return to the soap after four years away, Maddy talks about what it's like being with child.

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In the 'day in the life' video on the EastEnders Instagram page, Maddy spoke about how she's glad she doesn't have to spend long in makeup, due to needing to go for a wee about "every 10 minutes" while pregnant.

Shortly after, Maddy went to chat to on Linda actor Kellie Bright, who asked how the baby was doing.

"She's lively today," Maddy said, adding that the baby liked the lunch of of quiche and potato and aubergine salad.

"There's something joyful about playing a pregnancy, even when it's a complicated pregnancy," she said.

Kellie then talked about how it was interesting how Maddy watched her go through pregnancy and now it's the other way around, and noted that she was only a year older than Maddy now when she first joined EastEnders.

Related: EastEnders' Lee Carter actor responds to fan frenzy over baby storyline

Kellie also commented on the video, writing: "I love you @maddyhill90 and I can’t wait to get my hands on that baby!!!!!"

And even though he left the soap years ago, Danny Dyer proved he's still got love for the Carters by commenting with a heart emoji.

Tina Carter actor Luisa Bradshaw-White also commented, writing: "OMG this video makes me so happy @maddyhill90 I love you".

One fan in the comments joked that they told their friend that Nancy's bump looked really real, not realising that it actually is a real bump!

EastEnders airs on Mondays-Thursdays at 7.30pm on BBC One. The show also streams on BBC iPlayer, where most episodes drop early at 6am ahead of their TV broadcast.

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