Olivia and Alex Bowen announced their baby’s gender live on Loose Women on Tuesday, in the couple’s first TV interview since revealing they tragically lost one twin mid-pregnancy.
The Love Island star, 30, shared that she was expecting her second child with her husband Alex, 33, in February.
But last week Olivia revealed she was pregnant with twins but sadly lost one of her babies eight weeks into her pregnancy.
Now, appearing on the ITV daytime show, the couple shared the news they are expecting a baby girl, after recounting their tragic experience of vanishing twin syndrome.
The couple were told they were having twins just before Christmas, when they attended an early six week scan.
Recounting this, Olivia told the panel: ‘We went super early, I’m quite an anxious person anyway. When we turned up, we had our friend in the back of the car because we thought everything would be normal.
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Olivia and Alex Bowen announced their baby’s gender live on Loose Women on Tuesday, in the couple’s first TV interview since revealing they tragically lost one twin mid-pregnancy
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Appearing on the ITV daytime show, the couple shared the news they are expecting a baby girl, after recounting their tragic experience of vanishing twin syndrome
‘As soon as we sat down I saw two babies and not one, I was floored by that. I have twins in my family and as soon as we found out I was already nervous as we’ve not had a great history of twins in our family.’
The Love Island star broke down in tears as she revealed: ‘We had that two week period we were looking at cars, looking at car seats, planning bedrooms… and something happened called vanishing twin syndrome.’
She explained: ‘One of the babies just basically didn’t have a heartbeat but I’d had no symptoms, no pain, no bleeding to tell me that was what we were walking into. We were floored, we were expecting to have these two little babies.’
The star had experienced vanishing twin syndrome, which occurs when one twin passes away in the womb and ‘vanishes’ and studies suggest happens in roughly 36% of twin pregnancies.
Olivia heartbreakingly revealed that ‘the one beautiful part of it’ is that the babies do ‘absorb back into your body’ and that’s what the couple have been ‘holding onto’.
The reality star continued: ‘We were floored but talking about it helps, every little part is becoming easier by speaking to other women.
‘I haven’t seen many men talk about it and we want to change that perception of not being able to talk about miscarriage openly.
‘The baby had completely absorbed into my body at 14 weeks, just completely gone which is tremendously sad knowing they’re still in there.
‘I am so lucky to have experienced that moment of possibly having twins, it’s something that not everyone gets to feel so even having those two little babies at that time.’
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The Love Island star, 30, announced that she was expecting her second child with her husband Alex, 33, in February
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But last week Olivia revealed she was pregnant with twins but sadly lost one of her babies eight weeks into her pregnancy
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The Love Island star broke down in tears as she revealed: ‘We had that two week period we were looking at cars, looking at car seats, planning bedrooms’
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The star had experienced vanishing twin syndrome, which occurs when one twin passes away in the womb and ‘vanishes’ and studies suggest happens in roughly 36% of twin pregnancies
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Olivia heartbreakingly revealed that ‘the one beautiful part of it’ is that the babies do ‘absorb back into your body’ and that’s what the couple have been ‘holding onto’
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After recounting their tragic experience, Olivia and Alex revealed they were having a baby girl with their sweet gender reveal clip playing out live on Loose Women
The couple held hands and posed as they left the studio, with Olivia showcasing her blossoming bump
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The TV interview comes just after Olivia first revealed the sad news of the twin they lost
Alex then emotionally chimed in with: ‘I built this scenario up in my mind, I was thinking of the future.
‘I thought it was 100% happening and I had come to terms with it. I never really had a big family, I’m an only child and have no contact with my dad so it was an amazing thing for me.’
After recounting their tragic experience, Olivia and Alex revealed they were having a baby girl with their sweet gender reveal clip playing out live on Loose Women.
In the video, the couple were emotional as they opened a box with their son Abel, two, and discovered the little one would be a girl.
Olivia added: ‘He is so excited, he talks to the baby through my belly button at the minute.’
The TV interview comes just after Olivia first revealed the sad news of the twin they lost in an interview with The Sun.
She got emotional as she recalled: ‘As we looked at the screen, you could see that one baby was so much bigger than the other. And then the sonographer told us that the smaller baby had no heartbeat.
‘I just didn’t believe it. I sat there thinking: ‘No, it’s going to come back.’ And what made me more upset was seeing Alex’s face, because he had been so positive.’
She admitted that Alex was ‘crushed’ and she was ‘numb,’ adding that she couldn’t get out of bed, brush her teeth or shower.
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The couple announced their pregnancy in February with a video on Instagram
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The clip featured adorable family moments between Olivia and Alex, and their son Abel, including the little one kissing his mother’s stomach and wearing a shirt that reads ‘big brother’
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Olivia showed off her blossoming baby bump in multiple clips of the video
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This week, Olivia took to Instagram to break her silence on the devastating miscarriage
Olivia continued: ‘I was a mess and couldn’t speak to anyone. I just wanted to be asleep, but then I would feel so guilty because there was this other little baby thriving inside me that other people literally dream of having.’
She later took to Instagram to write: ‘I’ve tried to write this in my head a thousand times & now it’s come to the time to actually write it, it’s so hard to put everything I’m feeling into one.
‘There isn’t many words I can find to explain the emotions we’ve been carrying – but all I knew from the moment I found the strength to say it out loud was that I wanted to share our story to connect with parents out there, like us, who have been through the same heartbreak & pain.’
She emotionally quipped: ‘You’re not alone, even when it feels like you are the loneliest person in the world. And if by telling our story, it helps just one person to feel they can get through it too, that’s what matters.
‘I couldn’t wrap my head around the happiness & joy I felt for having one safe healthy baby – I know how fortunate we are for that – but at the exact same time feeling the excruciating pain & trauma of losing their twin.
‘It’s like the two couldn’t co exist. But I want anyone who is going through this to know that it is ok to feel every single emotion you need to feel, as that’s how you will start to heal. There are some incredible charities who are there to help too like @tommys & @sandscharity.’
Olivia ended the message with: ‘The other reason we are sharing this is because we never want our sunset baby to be forgotten. You existed, you were loved & you were part of our family for a short while.
‘And you are forever now a part of our story & we will never forget you. This is all in your honour baby.’
In the interview, Olivia added that she now hopes to fundraise for charities like Tommys, Sands, and Footprints. She also went to therapy to help cope with her loss.
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The couple, who have been together for almost a decade, welcomed their first child, son Abel, two, back in June 2022
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Olivia and Alex, formerly a sales executive and scaffolder respectively, soared to fame in 2016 when they appeared on the ITV2 reality show, where she was an original star and he, a late and extremely popular entrant
Olivia initially announced her pregnancy with a heartwarming video on Instagram and wrote in the caption: ‘A moment, a love- baby no2 – we’re waiting for you.’
The sweet clip, which looks like it had been recorded on a camcorder, showed the moment the couple find out they were pregnant.
It also featured adorable family moments between Olivia and Alex, and their son Abel, including the little one kissing his mother’s stomach and wearing a shirt that reads ‘big brother’.
Olivia showed off her blossoming baby bump in multiple clips of the video, as the family prepared to expand.
The couple, who have been together for almost a decade, welcomed their first child, son Abel, two, back in June 2022.
Olivia and Alex, formerly a sales executive and scaffolder respectively, soared to fame in 2016 when they appeared on the ITV2 reality show, where she was an original star and he, a late and extremely popular entrant.
After leaving the villa their romance soon went from strength to strength and Alex popped the question in New York in December 2016.
They tied the knot at an idyllic Essex ceremony in September 2018.
After leaving the show, the couple earned thousands through brand deals and even had their own TV show, Olivia and Alex Said Yes, on TLC in 2018.
