Ex-Doncaster Rovers volunteer turned BBC host Kelly Somers welcomes first child

The 33-year-old BBC and talkSPORT presenter has confirmed she has welcomed her first child with her fiancé Max, sharing some pictures of her newborn on Instagram on New Year's Eve.

She announced in the run-up to Christmas that she had given birth to a baby girl, whose name she is yet to reveal.

Posting a picture of herself cradling her baby, she wrote at the weekend: 'Fortunate to have had SO many amazing work opportunities again this year.

'But I’ll always remember 2023 for one thing… the year life got a whole new meaning. Happy new year everyone.'

Last year, after the England women’s team reached the World Cup final, she said: “I’m excited that my baby is going to be born in a generation with the Lionesses as role models.”

“I never, ever thought I would get to be a mum,” she added. I’ve grown up thinking it wouldn’t be possible. I’ve had so many problems, so I just feel incredibly fortunate.

“At my age, everyone knows someone who’s going through fertility problems or who has a bad story, and I always thought I was going to be one of those stories.”

Kelly was diagnosed with endometriosis, but she still had the nagging feeling that there was something more that wasn’t being recognised.

The real problem wasn’t found until 2019, when she went to a private doctor who told her she had polycystic ovaries.

“It was the biggest relief ever because it fitted and explained everything,” she says. “But then also, I knew you can’t cure it and it was going to be really hard to conceive. So at the beginning of this year, Max and I were thinking, ‘OK, it’s going to take years to have a baby. Let’s see what happens.’”

“Compared to other people’s journeys, I’ve had the luckiest, happiest ending. It’s a journey I didn’t think I’d get to take and I am so, so grateful.”

Kelly, who hails from London, was a volunteer for Rovers in the early 2010s – and went on to work at a string of other clubs before landing her big TV break.