Former Neighbours star Kym Valentine has given birth to a gorgeous boy named [pause for effect]… Phoenix.
The actress and her 35-year-old fiance, Trent Croad, shared the news with Women’s Day, saying, “Mum and baby are both healthy and happily resting after labour and Dad is proudly doting on them.”
A photo posted by Woman’s Day Magazine Australia (@womansdayaus) on
The happy couple recently teased their new bub’s name via Instagram, posting a picture of a fiery phoenix in full flight.
The actress, who is best known as Libby Kennedy from Neighbours, is already the mother of one daughter, Millana, 11, with ex-partner Fabio Tolli.
The pair split in 2007 and the years that followed proved particularly tumultuous for Valentine.
Things became tense on the set of Neighbours for Valentine after it was revealed she was in a relationship with actor Vince Colossimo in 2008.
Colossimo had recently split from Valentine’s Neighbours cast-mate Jane Hall, who openly blamed Valentine for the relationship’s demise.
That same year, Valentine collapsed on a flight to Melbourne from New York and was rushed to hospital where she was diagnosed with a collapsed lung and pneumonia.
In 2010, she was hospitalised with a life-threatening blood clot on her lung. Later that year, Valentine was admitted to a private clinic suffering from exhaustion.
In 2011, the Herald Sun reported she’d taken leave from her role again to undergo treatment for a depressive illness.
Valentine was axed from the show that year. She sued the producers of the soap for discrimination and demanded that they re-hire her.
Valentine alleged that she was unfairly dismissed from Neighbours and experienced sex and disability discrimination while on the show. She sought damages for lost earnings, “pain, hurt, suffering and humiliation,” from Fremantle Media, reported the Sydney Morning Herald in 2013.
She reached a settlement with Fremantle Media in 2013, and returned to the show in 2014 for a special three-week reprisal of the role of Libby Kennedy.
Her now-fiance Croad is also father to Keira, 7, and Sierra, 5, with his ex-wife Tanya Stewart.
Valentine told Woman’s Day that she and Croad feel “blessed beyond belief”.
“To be here with each other at this point in our lives is everything that happiness looks and feels like to us,” Valentine said.
Congratulations, Kym and Trent! We wish you nothing but happiness.