Entertainment
End of the F***ing World star Jessica Barden reveals she was pregnant in lockdown and recently gave birth
Jessica Barden is best known for appearing alongside Alex Lawther in Netflix’s The End of the F***ing World (Picture: Channel 4)
The End Of The F***ing World star Jessica Barden recently became a mother for the first time after keeping her pregnancy a secret from fans.
The British actress has been living in Australia for several months as she works on upcoming Netflix series Pieces Of Her, based on the novel of the same name by Karin Slaughter.
Jessica has now revealed via Instagram that she has been pregnant ‘this whole year’ and recently gave birth to her first child.
The actress, 29, announced the surprise news on social media where she also shared a snap of herself while pregnant.
‘If I didn’t reply to you and you felt like I was avoiding you it’s because I was pregnant this whole year,’ she wrote.
‘Thank you to everyone I worked with in Australia, I am so grateful I got to work pregnant and I couldn’t of done it without everyone’s care and support. (Sic)
‘I absolutely love being someone’s mum.’
Congratulations flooded in for the proud new mum, with Midsommar actor Archie Madekwe, comedian Lucia Keskin and BBC Radio 1 presenter Clara Amfo all offering their best wishes.
Game Of Thrones actor Eline Powell wrote: ‘Huge congratulations beauty!!!’ while fashion stylist Sydney Lopez, a friend of Jessica’s, said: ‘My heart is exploding’.
‘ILYSM so excited for u’!
In the post, Jessica warned followers that she ‘will never post my child on here’.
Shortly afterwards on Instagram stories, the actor shared a private message she had received from someone asking for pictures of her bellybutton, and reiterated: ‘This is why u ain’t seeing my kid.’
The Yorkshire native shot to fame almost overnight in 2017 as Channel 4’s The End Of The F***ing World, which boasted good reviews and later became a global phenomenon after it was added to Netflix.
Set in England, the show follows two wayward teenagers, Alyssa and James, who leave their families and run away together.
Jessica stars in the hit series alongside as Alyssa (Picture: Netflix)
What Alyssa doesn’t realise however, is that James is an aspiring serial killer who plans to make her his first victim.
The End of the F***ing World was so well-received that despite being envisioned as a limited, stand-alone season based on the mini-comics of the same name by Charles Forsman, Netflix brought out a second series in 2019.
The second, original series won two Baftas: best drama series and best supporting actress, the latter of which was awarded to Naomi Ackerman who appeared alongside Jessica and co-star Alex Lawther.
Filming of Jessica’s new Netflix series began in January 2021 in Sydney, when Australia was experiencing relative normality as it managed to contain the Covid-19 pandemic.
However, the country has been thrust into recurrent lockdowns in recent months, with strict rules remaining in place around masks, vaccine checks, social distancing and travel.
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