Pregnant Rhian Sugden hits back at trolls after showing off her growing baby bump in a sassy Santa costume

Rhian Sugden hit back at trolls after sharing a photo in a racy festive costume on Sunday.

The glamor model, 37, is expecting her first child with her husband, actor Oliver Mellor, 42, and has spent around £150,000 on eight rounds of IVF treatment.

And showing off her blossoming bump on Instagram, the TV personality stunned in a raunchy outfit that showed off her ample assets as she cradled her bump for the sexy photo.

She captioned the image: “Festive AF. Food baby and baby baby.. the most satisfied Christmas I’ve ever had! I had to keep up my tradition of an annual sexy Santa outfit. Just like you fit in.’

She continued, “I know this time of year can be hard for a lot of people, whoever you are and wherever you are, I just wanted to wish you lots of love this Christmas! ❤️’

Still, one follower was quick to respond when they noted, “One photo was enough… we don’t need the daily commute… congratulations,” prompting Rhian to shoot back, “@tjbox1987 it’s Instagram babe.” People post photos. If you don’t want to see it, click that little unfollow button x’

Rhian, who doesn’t shy away from showing off her body on social media, also stunned in a lacy green lingerie set on Saturday.

Meanwhile, she added a touch of elegance to her grid when she posted a sweet photo as she posed in a stunning maxi dress during a festive dinner in Windsor.

It comes after Rhian revealed she has been having a private scan every week because it ‘still doesn’t feel real’ that she is 18 weeks pregnant.

Rhian appeared on Wednesday’s episode of Steph’s Packed Lunch in the studio, while Oliver joined from home to talk to Steph McGovern about their long struggle to have a baby.

Rhian said: ‘I don’t know how I feel to be honest, it still doesn’t feel real. After believing for a long time that it wouldn’t happen, it finally happened. I’m just really overwhelmed by it right now.

‘I have scans every week because there’s a local clinic, so I keep popping in to check everything is still OK and if it’s still there.

‘We’ve always known it [having children] was planned and you actually expect to become pregnant. You get married and then you try to have children, and then it just happens.

“All those years before you tried not to get pregnant, and when it comes down to it, it just doesn’t happen. So we went for the tests. Oliver was told he had donor worthy sperm and it was me who had the problem, I was in perimenopause.

‘I had no idea because my periods were regular so I had no idea anything could be so wrong.’

The couple, who are expecting their child on May 4, admitted that they sometimes feared they would never be able to get pregnant.

Rhian struggled to conceive due to her low egg count and perimenopausal hormone levels, and was only given a three percent chance of conceiving naturally.

The former Celebrity Big Brother star spoke about her ‘tough’ battle with her IVF treatment and explained how she discovered the happy news the day she planned to give it up.

She added: ‘The first round was NHS, it wasn’t very tailored to me. The first round was tough, just like the first four. After the first four, five, sixth and seventh, it was just part of our lives then. It just became second nature to get up, inject, take tablets.

‘It’s like PMS times 100, so poor Oliver had a lot to deal with. It’s a little blurry at first because like I said, I’m just used to it. Maybe I’m used to keeping all the hormones inside.

‘Number eight was my last. You put everything aside for it. It was like throwing money on the street. We spent a fortune.

‘I was convinced it wasn’t working and I just wanted to have a drink, so I went and took a pregnancy test. I didn’t think it would be positive because all I wanted was a glass of wine in the evening and then it was positive.”

Oliver added: “There’s no denying it’s been very difficult for both of us. Rhian is putting on a bit of a brave face, I think. The emotional trauma has been heavy.

‘Physically, there’s no denying that I’ve had the easiest journey by far. I inject her with hormones and blood thinners twice a day and she takes steroids.

“I felt terrible because I felt like I was hurting her because I had to do this every day, and it just became routine. The emotional side of it, I think we’ve just become numb to it.”

Rhian and Oliver, who married in 2018, announced earlier this month that they are expecting their first child together.

Share the news with Hello! magazine’s Rhian said: ‘We’re over the moon, our lives are going to change so much, which is really exciting.’

The Coronation Street star added: ‘I can’t wait for the baby to be born, I’ll be pumping my fist in the air and shouting: ‘I’m a dad!’

She announced her decision to begin the in vitro fertilization process in 2019 after doctors told her she has an egg count from someone at least 13 years older.