Coronation Street fans believe they have spotted the unusual way the ITV soap hid Julia Goulding’s pregnancy from the cameras.
The Corrie star is pregnant with her second child and debuted her baby bump on the red carpet of the British Soap Awards on Saturday.
The actress, best known for playing Shona Ramsay in the show, smiled for cameras and proudly displayed her bump in a black gown for the glitzy event.
Speaking to the Mirror about expecting a second child with husband Ben Silver, Julia gushed that she was "very excited, of course!"
But given that Julia’s character Shona is not pregnant on the soap, they have had to hide her growing bump in recent scenes.
During Friday’s edition of Corrie, Shona wandered downstairs wrapped in a duvet, announcing to husband David, played by Jack P Shepherd, that she was having a duvet week, instead of a duvet day.
Following the Coronation Street episode, the soap’s official Facebook page posted a snap of Shona in her duvet get-up.
The soap post wrote: “Hands up, who else would like a duvet day spent watching Corrie? Go on then, grab your blankets, your biscuits & a brew, and get comfy.”
But the post prompted several fans to take to the comments section and speculate whether the duvet week was a choice made to cover up Julia’s baby bump.
One fan wrote: “Covering the baby bump! I’m happy for her…she is glowing!”, as another posted: “I think she is pregnant in real life again, great actor!”
Julia is already mum to Franklin Wolf, who was born in November 2019 with husband Ben Silver, who she married in 2019.
Announcing the happy news of her pregnancy back in May that year she said: "Ben and I are delighted to announce that we are expecting our first baby at the end of this year!
"We are absolutely overjoyed and can’t wait to meet our little one!"
Shona as a character has gone through some huge changes over the last few years after being shot in 2019, resulting in her suffering from memory loss and having to remember who David was and fall in love with him again.
"I think where's she settled right now is wonderful," she said. "There are some elements of the old Shona there with hints of the new Shona there as well. So it's a really nice contrast. Also it is so much fun to be that blunt! Because I couldn't be in real life!
"All couples go through harder times and Max has been quite intense on both of them. Facing things together - I think that's why it works best. So long may that continue, but who knows! You never know in the world of soap!"