Emmerdale actor Jay Kontzle has announced that he is expecting his third child with wife Mimi, with the news coming as a bit of a shock to the couple who were not trying.
Jay, who is best know for his role as Billy Fletcher on the ITV soap, is set to become a dad again for the third time, however, the 30-year-old said he was "sweating" when he found out about the surprise new addition to the family.
The soap star first burst on to our screens in 2018 and fast became a firm favourite amongst fans, Emmerdale viewers will be delighted to hear the happy news.
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Jay and his artist wife, Mimi, already share two children KaiBo, six and Zian, four. Mimi broke the news that she was expecting whilst Jay was on his lunch break between filming on set.
In an exclusive interview with our colleagues at OK! Magazine, Jay said: “Mimi called me during my lunch break on set and told me, I was sitting eating lunch in the sun and all of a sudden I went hot and started dripping with sweat. I was a bit shocked! Before that, Mimi had said she wanted to get a pregnancy test and I said, ‘A pregnancy test? That’s a lot of money that, especially with the cost of living going up.’
"Then I was in work and she decided to throw a spanner in the works over lunch!”
Ironically, Mimi had given away all of their baby stuff the week previous, convinced they wouldn't be having any more, Jay explained that they "didn’t think it would happen".
32-year-old Mimi laughed as she told of Jay's reaction, she said: “I rang him and said, ‘You’re never going to guess what? I’m pregnant!’ He replied, ‘You’re not!’ And I said, ‘I am!’”, “She was so casual – and there I was sweating!” Jay added.
Before she found out about the shock pregnancy, Mime had been teasing Jay about having another baby, she continued: “I’d been winding Jay up for months before, saying I really wanted another child – but his answer was always no.
“So I think that made me want another one more, basically just to be spiteful. But then it kind of backfired and I did end up getting pregnant. I don’t have a regular period anyway but I was late and I knew something was up, so I did a test. I was shocked it was positive but it’s a nice surprise and we know we’re lucky to be having another child. We’re excited and it’s a blessing.”
Mimi, who is of Chinese heritage spoke of how important it is to the family that the children all have Chinese names to honour the tradition.
The couple don't know the gender of the baby yet but Jay said: “Both our kids have Chinese names, so it will be another Chinese name.
“It’s also about the meaning. Zian means peace and waves, and KaiBo is about family.”
Mimi added: “I am Chinese, so it’s tradition really. We come from two cultures with Jay being Black and me being Chinese, and we thought it would be great to raise our kids knowing what ethnicity they come from and where their heritage is from. "It’s very important to us and they should always know where they’re from.”
Jay added: “If someone from China comes to the UK, they are given an English name but we thought it would be nice to give them a Chinese name to reflect their heritage. I think it makes them appreciate their culture more.”
The couple met when Mimi attended one of Jay's gigs in Cheshire alongside his former band mates in The Mend, prior to landing his Emmerdale role Jay was one quarter of the boyband who made it through to the live finals in 2012.
Mimi attended the gig with her sister, who was a big fan, the pairs paths collided and the rest they say was history. Jay and Mimi married in 2017 and welcomed their daughter to the world a few weeks later.
For all the pictures and video footage pick up a copy of Ok! magazine from Tuesday July 19 or visit OK.co.uk
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