News Beat
Hollyoaks’ Nikki Sanderson reveals two-year fertility battle with partner Anthony Quinlan after pregnancy news
NIKKI Sanderson has revealed that she had a two-year fertility battle before falling pregnant.
The Hollyoaks actress, 41, who announced her pregnancy in December, is expecting her first child with her fellow soap star partner Anthony Quinlan.
However, she says the pregnancy isn’t without its worries after a tough time getting to this place.
Speaking to OK! Magazine, the actress shared that the couple had a two-year struggle to conceive and had already taken steps towards IVF before falling pregnant naturally.
“Because we’d had a few times where it wasn’t the result we wanted, it was like, ‘Is this for real?’,” she explained.
Mum-to-be Nikki added: “We’ve had a lot of ups and downs in our journey to becoming parents and it’s been really hard on us.”
Admitting that they had almost lost hope, Anthony said: “We were kind of resigned to the fact that we may need assistance via IVF. We wanted this so much and we were just hoping, hoping, hoping.”
Nikki is set to give birth this Spring and announced the news via a sweet post at Christmas time.
Sharing a video to Instagram with her beau, the caption read: “Merry Christmas from the 3 of us. Baby Quinlan due Spring 2026.”
In the clip, the parents-to-be were seen decorating their Christmas tree together, adding baubles, before opening a box and unveiling the most important decoration of all.
The tree ornament included a photo of the baby scan and read: “Baby Quinlan: Arriving 2026.”
Nikki and Anthony got together in 2022, going public with their romance in April of that year.
Anthony previously told The Sun of their union: “I slid into the DMs and that was it. I was lucky enough to get a date and the rest is history.”
Just last year, the actress stepped away from her role of Maxine Minniver in Hollyoaks, one she held since 2012.
But before that, she began her soaps career on Coronation Street, where she played feisty hairdresser Candice Stowe in Weatherfield.
Since leaving soaps, Nikki said she was focusing on other acting opportunities.
But with motherhood on the horizon, acting may be taking a back seat.
