Emmerdale's Georgia Jay reveals she's given birth to her first child

Emmerdale star Georgia Jay has revealed she secretly gave birth to her first child over the summer.

The actress, who plays Steph Milligan on the ITV soap, revealed that back in June she'd welcomed a daughter named Nora, as she posted a snap with her baby on New Year's Eve.

Georgia had announced back in June she was expecting her first child, and revealed in her post that she gave birth just weeks later.

The soap star was immediately flooded with comments from her Emmerdale co-stars, with Beth Cordingly - who plays her on-screen mum Ruby - writing: 'You are perfect and so is she. Love you x.'

Laura Norton, who plays Kerry Wyatt, commented: 'Yay congrats gorgeous' alongside three heart emojis.

Georgia announced her pregnancy on Instagram back in June, writing: 's you’ve probably guessed, I’ve got some news to share! 

'I know some of you have been wondering if you’ve been seeing a little bump on screen lately… well, it’s not your imagination... I’m having a baby! 

'We’ve never been so excited and a little nervous all at once. Thank you for all the love and support.'

Viewers saw Georgia's character Steph temporarily leave the soap back in August to coincide with the actress' maternity leave.  

It comes following reports that fellow star Joe Absolom has left his role as villainous Ray Walters as he exits the soap alongside his equally evil onscreen mother, played by Jaye Griffiths.

The actor, 47, who joined the ITV show earlier this year in one of their darkest ever storylines, is said to have already filmed his final scenes.

Joe's character, alongside his mum farmer Celia Daniels, had been up to all manner of dastardly deeds, including drug dealing, prostitution and modern-day slavery.

But despite hopes Ray could redeem his evil ways after falling for Laurel Thomas (Charlotte Bellamy) he will be waving goodbye to the village in scenes that will air ahead of the show's huge Corrie crossover.

A source told The Sun: 'Bosses knew they only ever had Joe for a certain amount of time, but they’ve definitely made the most of having someone of his calibre in the village.

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'He filmed his final scenes back in November.'

Joe is best known for his awarding winning role as EastEnders' Matthew Rose which saw the Londoner framed for the murder of Saskia Duncan.

He appeared in the rival BBC soap from 1997 until 2000 before going on to star in Doc Martin, New Tricks and Code O Silence.  

Meanwhile co-star Jaye, 62, has also reportedly filmed her final scenes with her character said to be leaving 'chaos and secrets' in her wake.

A source said: 'Jaye has truly loved her time on Emmerdale but she knew when she signed up that a character like Celia had a limited shelf life.

'She must be seen to get her comeuppance and that's what is going to happen – one way or another.

'But while Celia might be done – her impact and secrets will run and run and continue to cause chaos long after she's gone.'

Speaking to the media about her departure, Jaye said: 'I knew it was finite, which I am very sad about, because I would like to stay forever, but it's such a strong arc.'

The soap star hopes that her heartbreaking storylines will raise awareness and get people talking about such important topics.

She added: 'Sometimes, when I read the script, I think, "really? You're going to make me say that?" Just when you think she's gone quite far enough, they'll make me go a bit further! So yes, it's horrendous.

'Hopefully, maybe conversations will start to be heard. Maybe every nail bar will be just… Maybe a question will run through people's minds.

'Maybe every car wash, I don't know how, as just an ordinary person, when you go into a car wash, do you say to them, "do you have a passport?"

'How do you navigate that? How do you as just an ordinary citizen help? I asked a police officer, and he said, "don't know."'

Despite playing such an evil character, she has had plenty of love and support from fans.

Jaye said: 'Everybody, they come up to me in the street and tell me much they love Celia and you think, "yeah, that's not going to last".

'That's so not going to last and I want to remind people that it's just pretend and I am really nice and I'm not a sociopath. It's so not gonna last, I'm gonna get hate mail!'