Samantha Barks pregnant with second child as she debuts bump in royal show
Samantha Barks has announced she's about to become a mother for the second time. At 34, the West End star - who won The Masked Singer earlier this year - is expecting her second child with Alex Michael Stoll.
The pair are doting parents to their 19-month-old son, Rafael, but Samantha confirmed that another little one is on the horizon as she geared up to perform at the VE Day 80: A Celebration To Remember event.
"I'm nearly nine months pregnant, it's gonna be me and baby performing for royalty tonight. It's our first adventure!" she said. Samantha also acknowledged her previous royal engagements as she readied to belt out the wartime anthem We'll Meet Again.
She said: "It's my fourth time, actually. It never gets less nerve-wracking, it's always such an honour but I'm nervous! We have a choir, we have dancers, it's gonna be a really big finish and I'm super proud of it."
She reflected on the unifying force of music particularly for the concert's tribute, as she shared: "Music brings us all together, it still does, even tonight, it brings us back to those days - the power of music.
"A song like We'll Meet Again, it's so poignant and beautiful and I'm really looking forward to it."
Samantha initially stole hearts when she competed in BBC's I'd Do Anything in 2008, where she vied for the role of Nancy in Oliver and came third, just behind Jessie Buckley and Coronation Street star Jodie Prenger.
Not long after, she took on the role of Eponine in the London production of Les Miserables, and later reprised the role in the 2012 film adaptation, sharing the screen with big names like Hugh Jackman, Amanda Seyfried and Eddie Redmayne.
From 2021 to 2024, she graced the West End stage as Elsa in the production of Frozen and also lent her expertise as a judge on ITV's Mamma Mia! I Have A Dream, joining fellow judges Alan Carr, Amber Riley and Jessie Ware.
Speaking about returning to her role in Frozen, she said last year: "With most parts I've played, there has been an expectation because the character is known in some way. I choose to not take that on. I want to do a good job and I want people to enjoy it, but it's not really a helpful emotion to take on in terms of thinking about what people might expect.
"Every other part I've played has a love interest, and that has been like the main focus. This is not that at all… Elsa is a really complex part. And she's so isolated, so that's very interesting. It's a lot of 'conceal and don't feel' until she has that moment of self-acceptance and self-love.'
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