TV INTERVIEW:
Closer caught up with Call The Midwife star Helen George, 33, at the launch of the brilliant new series, to talk real-life babies and hiding her bump...
Helen George, 33, found love with her Midwife co-star Jack Ashton (Reverend Tom Hereward) and, after five years playing midwife Trixie Franklin, revealed she was expecting a little one of her own.
Arriving six weeks early in September last year, little Wren Ivy was so ahead of schedule that she was able to attend her own baby shower! And Helen had a job trying to keep her pregnancy a secret while filming the hit drama – which regularly pulls in over 10m viewers.
She tells Closer, “I was pregnant in the series. I sit down a lot and I’m wearing a lot of capes. It was difficult to cover it up, because Trixie being pregnant wasn’t a correct storyline to choose for the character. We just did our best to disguise it, though I got larger and my boobs got a bit bigger.”
Fellow cast member, veteran Judy Parfitt (Sister Monica Joan) has gushed about baby Wren being a “beautiful little doll”, while series creator Heidi Thomas adds, “We were sworn to secrecy. Wren is the sweetest little thing – and she’s the most Call The Midwife baby there’s ever been, as both parents are in the show! It’s a very physical working environment, but it’s amazing what you can do with a swing coat and clipboard – and Helen was able to graciously retire, she just had a couple of episodes off.”
But did being surrounded by infants all day fill Helen with confidence for being a new mum? She laughs, “I’ve done the show for a long time now, and you think you know everything about babies. In reality, you don’t know anything at all! And it’s quite hard work. Did I deliver my own baby? No, I didn’t…”
● Call The Midwife returns to BBC1 on Sunday 21 Jan, 8pm