Shaughna Phillips, the star of Love Island, opens up about the rollercoaster ride that led to her second pregnancy with jailbird lover Billy Webb, who she admits would like more.
Love Island favourite Shaughna Phillips was flooded with congratulations earlier this week after she announced she’s expecting her second child. But fans will be shocked to learn that the star fell pregnant during a brief home visit from her jailbird lover, Billy Webb – who’s currently serving a nine-year sentence for Class A drug offences.
And although Shaughna admits she planned the pregnancy, even tracking her ovulation to boost her chances of conceiving, she says she was stunned that her baby dream came true so quickly. “It was the first time that my ovulation window coincided with Billy being home,” says Shaughna, who is four-and-a-half months pregnant. “I was like, ‘You know what? Why not? Let’s just see’. And literally, the next day, I said to Billy, ‘I think I’m pregnant.’”
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Her gut feeling was confirmed ten days later, when multiple pregnancy tests showed up positive. “I found out very, very early on,” she exclusively tells The Mirror. “I was doing maybe five tests a day. I’m not even exaggerating. It was borderline mental illness.”
Shaughna says Billy, who was jailed in 2023, is currently allowed out on home visits for “a few days” each month. And while she has so far been forced to raise her daughter as a single parent, the star says Billy is due for early release and should be reunited with his family in time for their new arrival. “I know the date that he’s due to be home, but I’m not saying it just because anything could happen,” she says carefully. “But he will be fully home before my baby is due.”
Shaughna is anticipating having a “person there” when the new baby arrives because Billy missed those sleepless nights and cuddles with Lucia the first time around. He undoubtedly desired more. She jokes that she wants Billy to “experience the newborn stage and everything it has to offer, because he does not know what is coming his way, and that’s what he wanted” while not giving Lucia that newborn experience.
Shaughna, who’s currently living with her solicitor mum while her home is being renovated, welcomed Lucia in April 2023, by which time Billy had already been taken into custody after being charged with possession with intent to supply a Class A drug.
Despite “hating every minute” of seeing her young daughter in jail, she remained committed to keeping the father-daughter relationship strong. She regularly went with Lucia to visit him.
She said, “I never would have chosen this life for my daughter.” I don’t believe it until I entered the building to find out what was happening. Although I was so anxious, I never had a question. I was anticipating visiting Lucia’s father from the beginning.
Shaughna maintains the gender hush-hush claim that she is already aware of whether to give Lucia a brother or a sister. She says, “I do know, but I’m keeping it a little secret for now.” “I really don’t intend to make it known. I’m not sure whether I’ll or not. However, I am aware of what I am experiencing, so I will need to make an effort to avoid a blunder.
Shaughna admits that she was upset when she first learned she was pregnant because she didn’t want her daughter to feel like she was “being replaced.”
She says, “I was hoping for it, but the moment I learned,” I felt bad for Lucia. What have I done, I was like, “Oh my God, I’m sorry? ” I don’t want you to ever believe you were being replaced or something similar. When I consider it, my heart literally breaks.”
The reality star jokes that “she probably thinks I’ve had a really big dinner” and claims that her daughter “hasn’t got a clue” that her mother is pregnant.
Shaughna recently revealed that she has lost a staggering 6st in the past 14 months, but she says she is determined to be kind to herself both now and in the future. Three weeks after having Lucia, she recalls, “I signed up for a gym.” “I didn’t go, but I did sign up and was trying to fit into my jeans.”
She also admits to putting herself under unnecessary pressure after receiving hurtful comments online. “People are cruel to me regardless – whether I’m skinny, overweight, pregnant, not pregnant, single or not,” says Shauna, who has rubbished claims that her dramatic weight loss is the result of fat jabs. “So I really need to try and drown out that outside noise.”
Despite this, it appears as though she is having trouble overcoming some of her past demons. She acknowledges that the body image situation has been spiraling throughout her entire life. “I don’t know why, and it probably hastens things a little bit.”
“When I got pregnant this time, I was about 3st lighter than what I was when I got pregnant with Lucia. So I don’t know whether I’m seeing the changes more because I weighed less. I’ve got a bump quicker and all of my new clothes obviously don’t fit me anymore.
“I’m just trying to stay positive,” he says. There is no greater blessing than a child, so I need to get out of my own head, so it definitely affected me more in the beginning than it does now. I’ve been fine, though, other than that. When I was pregnant with Lucia, I actually felt much more worn out than I did this time.
Shaughna and Billy first got together in January 2020, after they were introduced by a mutual friend. But the pair put their fledgling romance on hold after Shaughna got the call from ITV2 asking her to appear on the winter series of Love Island. “I was like, ‘I’m not giving up the opportunity for Love Island for a boy I’ve known for less than a month at this point’,” she says.
After Shaughna left the villa, the pair rekindled their relationship, living together until 2023, when Billy was arrested while she was seven months pregnant with Lucia.
He admitted conspiring to supply 4.5 kilograms of cocaine worth at least £360, 000, and was given a nine-year prison sentence. Shaughna refers to the terms of his early release, saying that he had already served one year. You now serve 40% of your sentence because of that.
By the time he leaves, “he would have spent more than two and a half years on tag,” he said. By the time he’s off tag, essentially, it would have been a four-year sentence.
She says, “Obviously, he’d done this, which was not ideal, and he’s paid his price for it,” when she thinks about Billy’s crime. Although we are still unmarried, I do try to live by the adage “for better or for worse,” which, sadly, turned out to be true.
Shaughna claims Billy is “excited” about having another child, but that Shaughna jokes that he won’t know what will happen to him when the baby is born. According to Shaughna, who reveals she’ll be having her second baby via C-section, he was able to accompany her for the 12-week scan.
She claims that when I went to a hospital recently, they said they might need a C-section because of where my placenta is. Regardless, I was planning a C-section, but it appears that I might have had to have done so. Therefore, this baby will exit the sunroof rather than any other exit.
Source: Mirror
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