Sonia Ibrahim pregnant

Sonia Ibrahim is pregnant with her first child.

The former \'Coronation Street\' actress - who played tanning shop assistant Mel Maguire on the ITV soap from 2016 to 2017 - took to Instagram to reveal she is expecting a daughter.

She wrote: "First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes a BABY in a baby carriage.

"I am absolutely over the moon and feel unbelievably blessed to announce that myself and my amazing husband are expecting a beautiful little baby GIRL

"Nothing in this world can top the feeling and excitement of knowing that I am going to be a mama, and I can promise one thing, above anything else, that I am going to love, adore, and cherish my little princess more than anything in this world. (sic)"

Sonia also revealed her baby is due in January.

The star worked closely with Lucy Fallon - who played Bethany Platt - during her time on the cobbles, and the 24-year-old actress has sent Sonia and her husband Arron a message of congratulations.

She wrote: "Ahhhhhhhhh congratulations guys! Amazing news (sic)"

Sonia\'s character Mel was heavily involved in the grooming of Bethany by Nathan Curtis, who was portrayed by Christopher Harper.

In the hard-hitting plot, Mel kidnapped Bethany to ensure she wouldn\'t testify against Nathan.

However, fortunately for Bethany, Mel ended up letting her go after she had a change of heart.

Bethany went on to testify against Nathan and his grooming gang in court, and they were sent to prison.