PREGNANT Nikki Sanderson reunited with some former Coronation Street co-stars in a lavish baby shower, as she counts down to her due date.

The soap star is expecting her first child with Hollyoaks partner Anthony Quinlan, who was also in attendance at the sweet do.

Amongst family and friends celebrating Nikki, 41, were a number of former soap colleagues, who appear to have remained close with the actress despite her quitting Weatherfield over two decades ago.

Nikki played hairdresser Candice Stowe on the ITV soap from 1999, up until her exit in 2005 – and more recently appeared as Maxine Minniver in Hollyoaks.

Coronation Street stars Jane Danson and Samia Longchambon were seen posing up a storm at the baby shower photobooth, donning wigs and sunglasses for the celebratory occasion.

The Leanne Battersby and Maria Connor actresses also held up some fun ‘baby boy’ signs in the shower snaps and were notably both wearing blue shirts for the event.

Earlier this month, Nikki and Anthony confirmed that they were expected a baby boy together, with the mum-to-be telling Closer in her gender reveal that she subconsciously knew she was “going to be a boy mum.”

In keeping with the theme, Nikki stunned in a powder blue gown for the shower that showed off her growing bump.

She and Anthony were also seen having fun at the photobooth together, with Anthony planting a kiss on her bump in one sweet snap, while the two held up ‘mum to be’ and ‘dad to be’ paper sunglasses in another.

Nikki’s stylish shower took place on Saturday over the weekend, and she shared a photo from the special day to mark Mother’s Day.

“Happy Mother’s Day to the bestest Mummy in the whole wide world! If I can be even half the Mother you have been to James and I then I will know I’ve done something right,” read her caption, alongside a photo of Nikki with her mum Jude.

Anthony also marked Mother’s Day with a special dedication post to his partner, sharing a sweet photo of the parents-to-be posing together at the baby shower.

“Happy Mother’s Day my love! Our baby is so lucky to have you, and I already know you’ll be the most amazing mum to our boy. I can’t wait for this with you. Love you always x,” he wrote.

Nikki has been very open and honest about the struggle they faced at first to become parents, after trying for a baby for two years.

The couple had just started steps towards IVF, when they fell pregnant naturally.

“I froze my eggs in my late thirties with Anthony’s full support, just in case we faced any complications later down the line,” the soap star explained.

“When it wasn’t going the way we’d hoped, we spoke to the doctors about IVF.

“We had tests to see if there was a problem, but both of us were fit, healthy and had everything in working order.

“We were on the list to have IVF and were patiently waiting for our turn, but by some wonderful miracle and blessing, we fell pregnant naturally!

“Anthony and I were just at a loss for words because we weren’t expecting it.”

Nikki has been keeping fans up-to-date with her pregnancy, and recently thrilled her followers when she accidentally gave away her due date.

The soap star shared an adorable video on Instagram last month where she showed her baby bump at different stages.

The first shot was her with a tiny bump, and the next showed her at 16 weeks.

However, it was the last shot that gave away her due date.

As the stunning star lovingly patted her growing tummy, she wrote over the top of the video: “A little over 28 weeks.”

Taking into account that a full term pregnancy is 40 weeks, this means that Nikki’s due date is in May.

After the actress shared the beautiful video, her fans rushed to comment, with one posting: “You are glowing”

While this follower added: “Looking beautiful. Hope mummy and baby are both doing very well!”

Anthony and Nikki have been dating since 2022, with the ex-Hollyoaks and Emmerdale hunk revealing how he chatted his partner up online.

Anthony told The Sun previously: “There were rumours we met at the gym, which we had a bit of a laugh about.

“I slid into the DMs and that was it. I was lucky enough to get a date and the rest is history.”

Anthony found his happy ending with Nikki shortly after the end of his romance with Strictly Come Dancing professional Dianne Buswell.

The actor dated Dianne for a little over a year but their relationship ended in 2018 and she quickly moved on with her celeb dancing partner from that year, YouTube star Joe Sugg.

Dianne and Joe are also expecting their first child together in 2026.