Claire Sweeney is ''absolutely delighted'' to be expecting her first child.

The former 'Brookside' star has announced she is five months pregnant with her ex-fiancé, Daniel Reilly, and will give birth to a baby boy later this year.

The 43-year-old actress' agent, Jonathan Shalit said: ''Claire could not be happier. To be pregnant and starring in her own show in her home town of Liverpool is all her dreams come true at once.''

The 'Celebrity Big Brother' contestant and computer software tycoon Daniel, 29, are said to have remained close friends despite confirming they had called off their engagement last month.

The duo got engaged in December 2012 and planned to tie the knot in the House of Lords in London, but ended their relationship at the beginning of this year.

The former couple were devastated after the actress, who is currently starring in a play she co-wrote at the Liverpool Royal Court called 'Sex And The Suburbs,' suffered a miscarriage in 2012 at 12 weeks.

But in an interview with OK! Magazine last year, she said: ''When we lost the baby, I was very philosophical about it. It wasn't meant to be. Things weren't right.''