Emmerdale star Laura Norton and fiancé Mark Jordon postpone wedding due to COVID-19

She surprised fans when she announced she’s expecting her first child with her longtime partner last month.

And Laura Norton showed off her baby bump for the first time as she and fiancé Mark Jordon appeared on Wednesday’s edition of Loose Women.

The Emmerdale actress, 37, and her former co-star, 55, who got engaged in June 2018, also revealed they’ve been forced to put their wedding plans on hold as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

The lovebirds were keen to tie the knot this year, but they have had to shelve their plans amid the global health crisis and their pregnancy news. 

Thespian Mark – who played Daz Spencer on the ITV soap – told the panel: ‘We had hoped it would be this year. I went off on a tour and we were planning everything and we were like, ”As soon as the tour is done we can scoot off.”

‘And now this pandemic has happened. And now something else [Laura’s pregnancy] has happened.’

The Kerry Wyatt star reflected on the early beginnings of their romance, admitting they were reluctant to embark on a relationship in case they ruined their friendship.

Mum-to-be Laura said: ‘When we first told each other we liked each other we just went, ”Shall we just leave it? Shall we just stay as friends? It’s probably best.” So, it was months after we actually told each other.’ 

Mark elaborated: ‘We were really good friends. We kept re-examining the question and eventually it was a bit more of a question.’

Detailing when they finally decided to take their romance to the next level, he said: ‘[Our first date] didn’t go brilliantly, but nevertheless, that was a sign of our life’, before his fiancée cheekily joked: ‘That set the tone from the rest of our relationship.’

The couple revealed in last January that they were engaged and had kept their engagement a secret for seven months.

Their baby is due on Mark’s birthday on January 25 and the pair are in ‘no rush’ to find out their gender as they’re focusing on welcoming a ‘healthy’ child. 

On becoming a mother, Laura told OK! magazine: ‘It’s something I’ve always hoped would happen. I hope my instincts kick in. I feel very calm and safe knowing that I’ve seen what an amazing father Mark and how brilliant his kids are.’  

Mark, who already shares Joseph, 22, and Poppy, 19, with his former wife Siobhan Finneran, was cleared of assaulting a pensioner in August 2019.

In July 2018, the father-of-two was accused of biting Andrew Potts on the face outside the Farrars Arms in Oldham. 

A jury found him not guilty of affray, unlawful wounding and assault by beating, after Mark denied the charges and claimed he was acting in self-defence.