EASTENDERS star Louisa Lytton has admitted that her relationship with her husband Ben Bhanvra ‘hit the rocks’ when they became parents.

Louisa, who plays Ruby Allen in EastEnders, says the arrival of their daughter Aura, three, meant things “changed” between them.

The soap star says she ‘didn’t have time’ for Ben and recalls the early months as just being in “survival mode”.

Louisa also revealed in a podcast chat that she and Ben’s wedding was also postponed several times before they finally tied the knot when Aura was almost one.

The actress, 36, told the Made By Mammas podcast: “It just changes doesn’t it?

“For the first few months, if I look back, I was absolutely obsessed with her. I think it affected our relationship then.

“All of a sudden, that was my sole reason and purpose.

“It is hard for men to start with. I was feeding, for example. Really, she only needed me. And he felt quite pushed out, if I am honest.”

Louisa admits their relationship issues were brushed under the carpet and not spoken about at the time.

The former Strictly Come Dancing star added: “It was, ‘Me and you against the world…’ He was like, ‘I will just make the dinner then…’ That affected it.”

Louisa went on to tell podcast hosts Zoe Hardman and Georgia Dayton that she and Ben only recently began speaking about the change to their relationship.

“I went along with, ‘This is new family life…'” Louisa admitted.

She added: “We are lucky we get to go away together and have date nights. We do things just us. But it is just not the same.

“You don’t have the freedom of, ‘Oh maybe we’ve had an argument but we’ll do something really fun on Friday and that will bring us back…’ You don’t have the freedom to do that any more.

“I am always at a constant level of, ‘There is so much that needs to be done and I am so stressed’.

“‘I don’t really have time for you or your arguments’. It is terrible.”

Louisa met Ben through a mutual friend and they got engaged in the Maldives in 2019.

The soap star, who has played Ruby in EastEnders since 2005, later snapped a picture of herself while trying on wedding dresses.

However, the coronavirus pandemic meant they had to cancel their Big Day twice.

It was also held back when Louisa was overcome with a desire to have a baby.

Louisa said: “We were actually due to get married and the wedding got pushed back because of Covid. Then it got pushed back again.”

“I had this rush of, ‘I have to have a baby. Scrap the wedding. We will move it back’. Which is what we did,” she explained.

Louisa and Ben eventually married in a stunning Italian ceremony in July 2022, with baby Aura by their side.

Last year, she reprised her role as Ruby in EastEnders but admitted to having “mum guilt” when she left Aura to go to work.

In one candid admission to fans, Louisa said she was “crying” on the London Underground as she travelled to the EastEnders studios in BBC Elstree Centre in Herts.