REVEALED: Emily Atack’s new boyfriend and father of her unborn baby is her step-cousin who knew the star for almost 30 years before romance blossomed

Emily Atack’s new boyfriend and father of her unborn baby is her step-cousin, MailOnline can reveal.

The Inbetweeners actress proudly announced on Instagram last week that she and her boyfriend Dr. Alistair Garner is expecting her first child.

Emily, 34, posted a black and white photo showing off her baby bump and told her 1.9 million followers she was ‘over the moon’ as she was five months pregnant and due to give birth in April.

Emily and Alistair recently went home together to prepare for the arrival of their baby.

Now we can reveal that Emily’s mother Kate Robbins is the sister of Alistair’s stepmother Jane Garner.

Emily has known Alistair for almost thirty years. They were introduced after Emily’s aunt started dating Alistair’s father Stephen Garner in the early evening hours before they married in 1994.

Alistair, 37, a nuclear scientist, appears in a photo of the close-knit family in 2017, where he is surrounded by female members of Emily’s family and has his arm draped around the star’s sister, Martha.

The caption read: “He’s actually just one of the girls.”

Emily, whose mother Kate is separated from her singer father Keith, is also close to her showbiz relatives, including Phoenix Night’s star uncle Ted Robbins and her other aunt, former soap actress Amy Robbins.

Emily and Alistair kept their relationship a secret for a while, but have grown closer over the past year and recently moved in together.

A source told MailOnline: ‘Emily and Alistair have grown closer over the past 12 months. It was unexpected, but their family is very happy for them. They make a great couple and everyone is excited about their new addition.”

MailOnline has contacted Emily’s representatives for comment.

The star made her surprise pregnancy announcement last weekend. She posted a photo of her stomach and told her followers that she had “never been so happy and terrified at the same time.”

Emily did not mention Alistair’s name in the lengthy message, preferring to refer to the couple as ‘we’.

Alistair completed his PhD at the University of Manchester on a project sponsored by Rolls Royce, before working as a researcher and lecturing.

He currently works at Jacobs as a materials scientist. They were pictured together in London’s Chinatown in September, walking hand in hand before stopping for a drink at Cafe Bohem. Emily was said to have been secretly pregnant at the time.

Alistair’s father Steve passed away last summer and Emily paid a touching tribute on her Instagram, saying she was ‘heartbroken’ by the loss.

She wrote, “I am truly blessed and honored to have some of my fondest memories with you, Uncle Steve, aka ‘Uncle Beef’, The Mountain Man. The light of our lives. ‘I love you so much and I will miss you incredibly. May you live on through the music and the mountains. “Rest in peace, my wonderful Uncle Beef.”

Alistair’s mother Morag separated from his father when he was a child.

His stepmother Jane was once in a pop band with Emily’s mother called Prima Donna.

In 1980 the group represented Great Britain in the Eurovision Song Contest and finished in third place with the song ‘Love Enough for Two’.

The sisters have remained close, appearing in one photo on Kate’s Instagram with the caption “FaaaaaamilyInnit.”

Since then, she has continued to work in entertainment, creating props and sets for television and films, using her talent as a sculptor.

Jane also created a life-size bronze statue of the late Linda McCartney holding a lamb, installed in the grounds of the Campbeltown Museum in Scotland.

The animal rights activist, who died in 1998, was the former partner of Sir Paul McCartney, Jane’s mother’s first cousin.

Alistair started dating Emily after her split from former Big Brother star and ex-tree surgeon boyfriend Liam McGough last year.

She has previously been linked to superstar singer Harry Styles, comedian and former Strictly Come Dancing contestant Seann Walsh and footballer Jack Grealish. Emily shot to fame playing Charlotte E in the cult comedy series The Inbetweeners, making her a favorite with the boys.

Since the sitcom, she has starred in the film remake of Dad’s Army and finished second in the 2018 series of I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here! and starred in her own ITV2 comedy sketch show.

She also received praise for her 2023 documentary Emily Atack: Asking for It? which examined why she is sexually harassed online on a daily basis and delved into why the blame for unwanted sexual attention is regularly placed on the victim.

Emily spent some time out of the spotlight before revealing her pregnancy with Alistair last weekend.

Her full Instagram statement read: “Hello everyone, it’s been a while but I’m back with some news. I’m happy to share with you that we are having a baby!! ‘I have never been so happy and terrified at the same time.

“Please go easy on me. Every day is mixed with excitement, fear, joy and hysteria, topped off with lots of vomiting – a bit like when you’ve just stepped out of Oblivion at Alton Towers with a hangover.

‘I got to know my body on such an insane level. It has made me appreciate the one I was given so much. I do my very best to make it a home for the little squid I raise.

‘We can already feel the baby lying on a mattress with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and asking for more chocolate chips. “I’m so happy to be able to write all this to all of you. You have always stuck with me through the years, please stick around to see how I entered my motherhood era. Christ. Let’s go.’