DIRTY DONNA HAS A BABY BY HER SOLDIER, SOLDIER LOVER.

Dirty Donna actress Rosie Rowell has had a baby with Soldier, Soldier co-star Rob Spendlove...dashing his wife's hopes that they might get together again.

Spendlove, who played Sgt Major Michael Stubbs, walked out on his wife Sandy Hendrickse and their daughter Bianca when he fell for Rosie on the set of the hit ITV drama.

At first Rosie, 31, said she wasn't interested in children. But Spendlove was by her side when she gave birth to their 8lb 7oz daughter Ruby.

The birth came as a bombshell to dumped wife Sandy. Her father, Dr Ralph Hendrickse, said last night: "Sandy was always hoping that Rob would come back.

"She was very upset over the break-up and didn't want their marriage to end.

"But now that Rosie's had a baby it seems that it will end in divorce. Sandy is being very sensible. She is trying to remain on good terms with Rob because she wants him to keep seeing Bianca, who's now five.

"Sandy's trying to get on with her life but it's a difficult time."

In Soldier, Soldier more than 16 million viewers were gripped when Rosie's character Donna Tucker had a fling with an art tutor then walked out on her husband, played by Robson Green.

Her character became so well known that "doing a Donna" is now used in Army slang to describe a cheating soldier's wife.

But actress Sandy, 33, only found out about the show's real-life love drama when Rosie and Spendlove were pictured holding hands.

When they set up home together Rosie described his marriage as "a complication." Last Thursday Spendlove, 43, collected Rosie and Ruby from hospital and drove them home to their remote 15th Century farmhouse in Woodbridge, Suffolk.

The couple refused to talk about the baby or whether they had any plans to marry.

While Rosie settles into mother- hood with Spendlove, Sandy is trying to rebuild her shattered life.

Father Ralph said: "This whole business has been terrible for her and she now has Bianca to bring up on her own."

Article Details

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Author:	Bell, Matthew
Publication:	Sunday Mirror (London, England)
Date:	Mar 16, 1997
Words:	342
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