All Creatures Great and Small star Rachel Shenton announced she has welcomed her first child with husband Chris Overton.

Rachel Shenton and Chris Overton have welcomed their first child (Image: Getty)

All Creatures Great and Small star Rachel Shenton has welcomed her first child with her husband Chris Overton. The actress, 37, took to Instagram to announce that she gave birth to a baby boy named Orson. Sharing a black-and-white photo of their newborn’s feet, Rachel penned a heartfelt message, telling her followers: “On the 09.04.2025 my dream came true… Welcome to the world Orson Wilde Overton…. Our hearts are yours.”

The former Hollyoaks star expressed her gratitude towards doctors and midwives at the Royal Stoke Maternity Unit after Orson’s early arrival. “Orson came along earlier than expected… so we needed to stay in hospital for a while and we couldn’t have wished for better care and support,” she explained. The post was met with a flood of congratulations from fans and Rachel’s celebrity pals, including actress Emily Atack who penned: “Absolutely bloody brilliant news xxx”.

Rachel gave birth to a baby boy named Orson (Image: Instagram/Rachel Shenton)

The actress plays Helen Alderson in All Creatures Great and Small (Image: Channel 5)

Kirsty Gallagher gushed: “I am SO happy for you, over the moon in fact. This is the best news ever. Enjoy the newborn bubble. I’m sending you all so much love.””

Rachel’s former Hollyoaks co-star Jazmine Franks added: “Gorgeous news. Congratulations x.”

Rachel and Chris, tied the knot in 2018 after eight years together. The 35-year-old is best known for appearing in shows such as DCI Banks and Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps.

The pair worked together on The Silent Child, a poignant short film about a young deaf girl and her social worker.

The couple won an Oscar for their short film, The Silent Child, in 2018 (Image: Getty)

The venture received extensive praise and bagged the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film at the 2018 Oscars, with Rachel penning and featuring in the film while Chris took on the directorial role.

During their emotional acceptance speech, Rachel, whose father became deaf following cancer treatment, said: “Our movie is about a deaf child being born into a world of silence, it’s not exaggerated or sensationalised for the movie, this is happening, millions of children all over the world live in silence and face communication barriers and access to education.

“Deafness is a silent disability, it is not life threatening and you cannot see it so I want to say the biggest thank you to the Academy for allowing us to put this in front of a mainstream audience.”

After her father’s death, Rachel learned British Sign Language and was made ambassador for the National Deaf Children’s Society in 2011.