JOYFUL NEWS: Emmerdale Heart-Throb Kelvin Fletcher and Wife Liz Announce Baby Number FIVE – Fans in Meltdown Over Adorable Farmyard Reveal as ITV Teases ‘Huge Surprise’ in New Series! 🌟🍼
Oh, to be a fly on the barn wall at the Fletcher family farm! In a heart-fluttering announcement that’s sent Britain into a collective swoon, former Emmerdale hunk Kelvin Fletcher and his actress wife Liz Marsland have revealed they’re expecting BABY NUMBER FIVE – yes, you read that right, their fifth little bundle of chaos and cuddles is on the way! 💖 The couple, already parents to four rambunctious tots, dropped the bombshell in the most quintessentially Fletcher fashion: a sun-dappled photoshoot amid rolling Peak District hills, where their giggling brood romped with fluffy lambs, while Liz’s blossoming bump stole the show. It’s the kind of wholesome reveal that has fans clutching pearls and keyboards alike, flooding social media with cries of “More Fletchers? Yes please!” and “This family’s living my dream life!”
The 41-year-old soap star – who traded Dales drama for real-life muck and magic after two decades as brooding farmer Andy Sugden – couldn’t contain his beam as he shared the news on Instagram. “We’ve got another little farmer in the oven!” Kelvin quipped in the caption, his trademark cheeky grin on full display as he cradled Liz’s tummy beside a pen of bleating newborns. “From city lights to country nights, life’s thrown us curveballs, but this? This is the best plot twist yet. Over the moon doesn’t cover it – we’re positively orbiting!” Liz, 38, the voiceover artist and fellow thespian who’s been Kelvin’s rock through it all, added her own poetic touch: “Surreal doesn’t even begin to describe it. Four under five was wild; five? Heaven help us! But with this lot, we’ll muddle through with more love, laughter, and the occasional lost welly.” Their post, a carousel of golden-hour snaps showing the kids – Marnie, 9, Milo, 6, and two-year-old twins Maximus and Mateusz – smothering Mum in hugs while Kelvin hoisted a lamb like a trophy, has racked up over 500,000 likes in hours. “Pure sunshine in human form,” gushed one follower. “Kelvin and Liz, you’re proof that fairy tales do exist – with added manure!”
But hold onto your hay bales, darlings – there’s more! The Fletchers teased that their smash-hit ITV series Fletcher’s Family Farm will capture the “huge surprise” of the pregnancy in its third series, premiering this weekend. “Something massive is brewing – and no, it’s not just the tea!” Kelvin winked in a behind-the-scenes clip, where the family frolicked in a field of wildflowers, Liz’s bump artfully framed by a rainbow of farmyard friends. Speculation is rife: Will we see the birth on screen? Celebrity baby showers with Strictly pals? Or perhaps a farmyard gender reveal involving a stampede of alpacas? Whatever it is, with series three kicking off on October 19 at 11am on ITV1 (and 8pm on ITVBe), viewers are already glued to their sofas, popcorn at the ready. “If this means more Fletcher mayhem, sign me up for life!” tweeted one excited punter, echoing the sentiments of millions who’ve made the show a Sunday morning must-watch.
This joyous chapter comes hot on the heels of a rollercoaster year for the Fletchers, who’ve juggled lambing seasons, a devastating farmhouse fire, and the relentless rhythm of rural life. Just last month, during a rare family jaunt to Cyprus – think sun-soaked beaches and Milo perfecting his sandcastle empire – Kelvin reflected on their whirlwind: “We’ve swapped scripts for muck boots, but the drama’s realer than any soap. Baby five? It’s like the universe saying, ‘Keep going, folks – the best bits are yet to come!’” Liz, ever the grounded glamour puss, chimed in: “It’s terrifying and thrilling. But watching our kids thrive amid the chaos? Priceless.” And thrive they do – Marnie, the dance dynamo who snagged global gold at this year’s competitions, leads the pack with her pint-sized poise, while the boys turn every chore into a comedy caper. “They’re our little legends,” Kelvin beams. “This farm’s forging them into forces of nature.”
Let’s rewind the reel on this golden couple, shall we? Kelvin Fletcher burst onto our screens at the tender age of 12, landing the role of troubled teen Andy Sugden in Emmerdale back in 1996 – a gig that would span an astonishing 20 years and cement him as ITV’s brooding beefcake. Born in Oldham to a postman dad and dinner lady mum, young Kelvin was a natural – scouted at drama classes where he dazzled in school plays like Charlie Is My Darling. “I was the kid who couldn’t sit still,” he laughs now. “Acting gave me an outlet – and Emmerdale? It was my university of heartbreak.” As Andy, Kelvin navigated everything from shotgun weddings to sibling sagas, earning Best Dramatic Performance at the 1999 British Soap Awards and a legion of swooning fans who penned love letters by the sackful. “The sexiest male nods were nice,” he shrugs, “but it was the depth – the pain, the passion – that hooked me.” Off-screen, though, Kelvin was the ultimate gent: a national inline hockey champ with Oldham’s Chaddy Wildsharks, zooming to victory in ’98, and a motorsport maniac who clinched the 2012 Silverstone Celebrity Challenge before tackling the British Touring Car Championship in 2016. “Adrenaline’s my jam,” he grins. “Whether it’s racing bends or romping with rams!”
Enter Liz Marsland, the raven-haired beauty who stole his heart – and arguably, the nation’s – twice over. The pair first crossed paths at eight, childhood chums in Oldham’s theatre workshops, but sparks truly flew when fate reunited them in 2009. Liz, then honing her craft in stage and screen (think sultry roles in In The Club and voiceovers that purr like velvet), was “the one who saw past the spotlight,” Kelvin sighs dreamily. “She knew the real me – the lad from the terraces, not the telly toff.” Their 2015 wedding was a star-studded soiree in Cheshire, with Emmerdale mates toasting amid floral arches and fairy lights. “It was magic,” Liz recalls. “Kelvin twirling me like we were in a rom-com – minus the rain-soaked airport dash!” By then, baby fever had bitten: Marnie arrived in 2016, a “tiny terror with her mum’s eyes,” followed by Milo in 2018, the cheeky chap who’s all dad in mischief. “Fatherhood hit harder than any script,” Kelvin confessed on Lorraine. “It’s raw, real – the role of a lifetime.”
Then came the curveball that changed everything: twins! In January 2022, amid the chaos of Covid lockdowns, Kelvin and Liz announced they were expecting not one, but TWO more blessings – Maximus and Mateusz, born in May that year, tiny tots who turned their world upside down (and their nursery into a nappy warzone). “Shocked? We were floored!” Kelvin guffawed on BBC Breakfast. “From two to four overnight – talk about a plot twist!” Liz, cradling her bump in those early snaps, glowed: “It’s double the love, double the laundry. But we’d have ten if we could!” Fans melted over the first pics – four pudgy feet peeking from a blanket, captioned “Gift from God” – and the twins have been stealing scenes ever since, tumbling through farmyard frolics like mini tornadoes.
But the real game-changer? The farm. In 2021, ditching urban bustle for bucolic bliss, the Fletchers snapped up a sprawling 120-acre spread in the Peak District – a verdant paradise of drystone walls and whispering winds, dubbed “Wellington Farm” after their arrival. “It was impulsive,” Kelvin admits. “Lockdown had us craving space – for the kids, for us, for sanity.” What followed was chronicled in Kelvin’s Big Farming Adventure (BBC, 2022), a rollicking romp where the novice farmer fumbled fences, wrestled with weathers, and wooed a flock of sheep. “I went from Sugden to sodden!” he jokes. “Emmerdale prepped me for drama, but this? Lambing at 3am in a blizzard? Oscar-worthy exhaustion.” Liz, ever the anchor, dove in too: “It’s gritty glamour – heels swapped for wellies, but the views? Unbeatable.”
The gamble paid off spectacularly. Enter Fletcher’s Family Farm (ITV, 2023), the observational docu-soap that’s become Britain’s brunchtime obsession – eight hour-long episodes of mucky mayhem, followed by a festive special that had viewers ugly-crying over Christmas pud. Series one thrust us into lambing lunacy, piglet pandemonium, and the heart-tugging release of pet lamb Aga back to the flock. “Emotions ran high,” Kelvin reflected. “From joy at new life to gut-wrenching goodbyes – it’s farming unfiltered.” Series two (2024) upped the ante: pregnant cows calving, county fair triumphs, and a worming frenzy that saw Milo, then four, knee-deep in “ewey goo.” “The kids are naturals,” Liz beams. “Marnie’s bottle-feeding pros, Milo’s our mini-vet, and the twins? They’re alpaca whisperers!” The show’s secret sauce? Authenticity. No scripts, just sweat and snuggles – Kelvin shearing sheep with showman flair, Liz juggling chores and charm, all while the tots turn tractors into playgrounds. Ratings soared to 2.5 million, with critics cooing: “The Clarkson’s Farm of family telly – heartfelt, hilarious, and hopelessly addictive.”
Now, series three – fresh off the press and bowing October 19 – promises peak Fletcher frenzy. Filming wrapped amid a “wrap party like no other,” Kelvin spilled, hinting at the pregnancy plot: “You’ll see the bump grow, the belly laughs multiply. It’s raw – the scares, the celebrations, the sheer madness of five under six!” Expect Easter egg hunts gone awry, a Nordic winter jaunt (teased in trailers: snow angels and sauna sing-alongs), and perhaps a nod to that fateful farmhouse fire in 2025. “We were holidaying when the call came: flames everywhere,” Liz shudders. “Lost treasures, but gained perspective – stuff’s just stuff; family’s forever.” The blaze razed their homestead, but phoenix-like, they’ve rebuilt: eco-upgrades, animal-proof playpens, and a “rebound ironing board” Liz jests about. “One silver lining? No more hoarding!”
Away from the acres, the Fletchers are a force. Kelvin’s juggled farming with fame: guest spots in Death in Paradise (2023’s twisty whodunit), Father Brown (2024’s clerical caper), and voice cameos that rumble like thunder. “Acting’s in my blood,” he insists. “But farm’s my heartbeat.” His Strictly glory? Unforgettable. Stepping in for injured Jamie Laing in 2019, Kelvin samba-ed to victory with Oti Mabuse, lifting the Glitterball in a fairy-tale finale. “Oti’s magic,” he gushes. “She unlocked moves I didn’t know I had – hips that don’t lie, apparently!” Liz, cheering from the wings, quipped: “Sensuous? I wasn’t ready – but proud? Bursting!” The win netted deals: motorsport comebacks (he’s eyeing a 2026 BTCC tilt), a bestselling memoir Fletcher’s On The Farm: Mud, Mayhem, and Madness (2024), and motivational gigs where he preaches: “Chase joy, embrace the mess.”
Liz, the unsung superstar, shines solo too. A Hollyoaks alum and voiceover virtuoso (her purr powers ads from posh perfumes to petrol pumps), she’s penned parenting columns for Hello! and launched “Liz’s Larder,” a farm-fresh recipe range. “Motherhood’s my masterpiece,” she says. “Five kids? It’s a circus – but our ringmaster’s love.” Their brood? A kaleidoscope of quirks: Marnie’s medal-magnet, strutting global dance golds; Milo’s mischief-maker, mending walls with dad; the twins, tornado tag-team tumbling through tasks. “They’re resilient,” Kelvin marvels. “Farm life’s tough love – teaches grit, grace, gratitude.”
The announcement’s sparked a support storm. Celeb chums piled in: Oti Mabuse: “Baby Fletcher five? The dancefloor just got deadlier! Congrats, fam! 💃🍼” Natalie Anderson (Emmerdale co-star): “From Dales to delights – you’re blooming! Love ya.” Even Fearne Cotton chipped: “Wholesome overload – may your farm echo with giggles forever!” On X, the frenzy’s feverish: #FletcherBaby5 trends with 50k tweets, fans fan-girling: “Kelvin’s quiff + Liz’s laugh + five mini-mes? TV gold!” One devotee wailed: “Series three with a bump? Pass the tissues – happy tears incoming!” Charities cheer too: The Fletchers’ farm doubles as a haven for holistic holidays, with “Christmas at Fletchers” (tickets snapped up in seconds) funding rural mental health. “It’s therapy on tap,” Kelvin says. “Nature heals – and so does family.”
As bump swells and series spools, the Fletchers eye expansions: a cookbook sequel? Alpaca agritourism? “Sky’s the limit,” Liz laughs. “Or at least the barn roof!” Kelvin nods: “We’ve built more than a farm – a legacy of love.” With baby five due spring ’26, their saga’s just shearing – er, steaming – ahead. Britain, brace for more Fletcher fever: louder, lovelier, and laced with that unbeatable rural romance. Who’s tuning in? We know we are!
Emily Davison is Daily Mail’s family features editor. Got a tip-off? Email [email protected]
Fletcher Family Fast Facts
- The Farm: 120 acres in Peak District; sheep, pigs, cows, alpacas, horses. Open for seasonal events like lambing fests.
- Kids’ Ages (as of Oct 2025): Marnie (9, dance diva), Milo (6, farm fixer), Maximus & Mateusz (2, twin terrors). Baby 5: Due April 2026?
- Show Timeline: Series 1 (2023: 8 eps + Xmas special); Series 2 (2024: 11 eps incl. festive); Series 3 (Oct 2025: Pregnancy plot twist!).
- Kelvin’s Wins: Emmerdale (20 yrs), Strictly (2019 Glitterball), BTCC races.
Fan Favourites from Past Series
- Lambing Drama: Heart-pounding births – and Aga’s tear-jerking farewell.
- County Fair Frenzy: Kids’ rosette rushes; Kelvin’s sheep-shearing strut.
- Fire Fallout: Rebuild resilience – “Stuff’s replaceable; spirit’s not.”
