ITV star almost missed baby’s birth because he was ‘next door having a lamb shank’-Asyia Iftikhar-Entertainment – Metro

Joel Dommett, seen at last year’s Bafta TV Awards with Declan Donnelly and Rob Beckett, had a food faux pas at the worst moment (Picture: Scott Garfitt/Baftavia Getty Images)

British TV personality Joel Dommett welcomed his baby in September under very chaotic circumstances in a food-fuelled near miss.

The Masked Singer presenter, 38, and model Hannah Cooper, 35, celebrated the birth of their newborn, Wilde Cooper-Dommett, in September to huge congratulations from friends and fans.

But Joel’s introduction to fatherhood kicked off with one major bump – almost missing the birth altogether while he tucked into some haute cuisine.

While chatting on the Dish podcast with Nick Grimshaw and Angela Hartnett, he recalled the couple’s trip to the private hospital, where he ordered a duck with red wine jus and a lamb shank from their luxury menu while Hannah waited to go into labour.

‘All you need to know about the story is, is I’m unbelievably tight, like I really… this is the most money I’ve ever spent on anything in my life,’ he said.

About eight hours in, a lady handed the Survivor host a menu.

Joel and Hannah have been married for five years (Picture: Getty)

The timing was not ideal for the comedian (Picture: Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock)

‘I said, “Is it included?” And she said, “Yes, of course it’s included,” and I was like, oh my God, amazing. And I then went across the menu and tried to sort of order what I thought looked to be the most expensive,’ he continued.

After getting as much as he could for his money (and ordering a ham sandwich for his wife) things really started to happen.

‘About 12 hours in, we’re then in the throes of it. It’s happening. The gown is off, my wife is like “Arghhhh”, the contractions are happening quickly, that’s the point where the duck with a red wine jus arrives.’

As the room filled with the smell of the dish, Joel’s wife Hannah was confused by the aroma, to which he had to tell her that it was down to his succulent meal.

After handing his wife her sandwich and scoffing down his duck with a red wine jus, ‘the birth ended up being very long’ at almost 30 hours altogether.

Joel adorably shares a drink (consisting of very different beverages) with his baby Wilde (Picture: Instagram/@joeldommett)

Joel and Hannah at last year’s Bafta TV Awards before the birth of their children (Picture: Antony Jones/Bafta/Getty Images for BAFTA)

So, Joel returned to watching Friends re-runs and Hannah was advised to go to sleep, after which she would finally push and birth the baby. This was the point where the former I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! star made his grave error.

‘While she was having a sleep I thought “This is a perfect time for another meal”. And so I didn’t make the same mistake as before I left the room. 

‘What I didn’t know was that whilst I was out of the room, she woke up and they said, “Oh, it’s time to push, it’s time to birth your baby.”‘

Joel explained that as his wife started pushing, she suddenly questioned where on earth her husband had gone.

While one nurse didn’t know his whereabouts, another answered: ‘He’s next door having a lamb shank.’

Luckily he made it just in time, and can even joke about it now.

‘[The meal] was so good, it was delicious,’ he added. ‘So our baby is called lamb shank and we are hoping to have more cutlets.’

Joel was caught out eating lamb shanks in the final moments of labour (Picture: Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock)

When asked if, as a comedian, he was ‘cracking gags’ at the time Joel admitted that though he tried, Hannah found it ‘awful’.

‘Hannah was like, “You can’t just make jokes out of the whole thing. You have to be there and support me”.

‘It’s just so difficult, the whole thing is so ridiculous, it’s impossible to not grab a thing and go “Oh this intrument’s a funny shape,”‘ he explained.

Joel and Hannah began dating in 2016 before tying the knot in 2019 in an idyllic beachfront ceremony.

Joel recently completed the London Marathon (Picture: John Walton/PA Wire)

Most recently, Joel celebrated a huge achievement after completing the London Marathon while dressed in a Piranha costume.

‘It was definitely the hardest marathon I’ve done. Really had to dig deep. Lots of shouting to myself,’ he said at the time.

‘It probably weighs, I reckon, probably about 8kg, something like that. The hard thing was it (the costume) was just banging against my head the entire time.’

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