Actress Holden has baby daughter

Holden said she was "completely thrilled"

Actress Amanda Holden has given birth to her first child, a daughter called Alexa Louise Florence Hughes.

Holden, who starred in BBC One's Cutting It, said she and her fiance, music producer Chris Hughes, were "overwhelmed and completely thrilled".

Their daughter, who weighed 6lbs, was born on Saturday and delivered by Caesarean section, Holden's agent said.

"They are both completely on a high and feeling fantastic," she added, saying their daughter would be known as Lexi.

The actress will next be seen on television in a six-part ITV1 series, Wild at Heart, filmed last year in South Africa while she was pregnant.

Good reviews

In 2004 she earned an Olivier Award nomination for her lead role in the West End musical Thoroughly Modern Millie.

Holden received good reviews for her stage performance, but was forced to take two weeks off when she was admitted to hospital with a kidney infection.

The show closed two months early due to poor ticket sales.

Holden split from her comedian husband Les Dennis in 2002 following an affair with actor Neil Morrissey.

She and Dennis divorced in November 2003.