Former Hollyoaks actress Sophie Austin is going to be joining Call the Midwife, her boyfriend Shayne Ward has revealed.

Ward revealed the news on This Morning, saying: "Sophie's just starting a new job, and she's probably going to kill me for saying this, but I have to say it because I'm excited for [her], but she's just started Call the Midwife."

He jokes, but Sophie does have a habit of offing our favourite soap characters. She played Lindsey Roscoe, also known as the Gloved Hand Killer in the Channel 4 soap.

Since then, she has appeared in an episode of Casualty and starred in Tina and Bobby alongside fellow soap stars Patsy Kensit and Michelle Keegan.

Ward also spoke about his daughter, saying: "She's wonderful, Willow May, she's a beautiful girl, she's just over 6 months. She's on the rapid spins now, she's just trying to crawl, but I absolutely love it, she's wonderful.

"People could say I was born to sing, but I think I was always born to be a dad."

Call the Midwife will lose three series regulars when it returns for its seventh series, so it's good to see we're getting some new characters in.

The latest series ended in February, receiving praise for tackling challenging topics such as genital mutilation, disfigurement and disability. There was some criticism, however, for its domestic abuse storyline.

This Morning airs weekdays on ITV.

Digital Spy