Inside Jorgie Porter’s luxe gender reveal – with balloons and flying confetti
HER on-screen character murdered her cheating baby daddy after she got pregnant at 17, but Jorgie Porter’s real life is far less dramatic.
The actress, now 36, has played Theresa McQueen on and off in Hollyoaks for 16 years. She lives in Chorley, Lancs, with her fiancé, a property developer, and their two (soon to be three) children.
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Jorgie, who is due in early December, is sharing her gender reveal exclusively with Fabulous today.
She and Ollie Piotrowski, a 35-year-old former roofer who is now worth £2million thanks to deals with footballers and billionaire businessmen, welcomed their first son, Forest, in December 2022.
That means they’ll be faced with the dreaded ‘two under two’ situation later this year – and Jorgie admits there’s going to be ‘chaos’.
She tells Fabulous: “I hadn’t thought about this before, because it’s only now that I see how crazy Forest is.
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“He just escapes, runs around and wants to do his own thing, for little reasons. This morning it was a toothbrush.
“So having a baby at the same time, I think that’s going to be pretty difficult. I think it’s going to be chaos.”
Despite this, Jorgie and Ollie are very happy to have become parents again, something that has probably been made even more poignant by their previous experiences.
Jorgie suffered four miscarriages in 2021 after becoming pregnant with quadruplets.
It was a missed miscarriage, where the body does not recognize the loss of the pregnancy, and it happened around the 14th week.
In February 2022, the couple learned they had suffered a second miscarriage, six weeks into their pregnancy and on the day of their engagement party.
Jorgie, who is also stepmother to Ollie’s son Alfie from a previous relationship, said ahead of the big reveal: “We already have two boys, so of course I would like to be a boy mum again.
“I know how to do that, how to play that game, but a girl would be cool too.”
“I don’t think you’re ready for a rude comment like that,” she teased Ollie.
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“I know Alfie wants a girl, we’ve had this conversation. Forest has no idea what day it is, so he’s fine with either.
“I don’t know if Ollie and I are ready for another baby and the sleepless nights.
‘Two under two’
“Forest is now at a stage where he can get up and open the door himself, so you have to be very alert because he also climbs out of his cot.
“We are now doing it at an extreme level, whereas with a baby you think more: ‘There you go, put that baby there, he’s crying’.
“Now that I’m a toddler mom myself, it feels like having a baby is really easy.
“Toddlerhood is hard enough and if you add a baby to that, I don’t think we’ll ever know what sleep is again.”
Who is Ollie Piotrowski?
Ollie Piotrowski, 35, has transformed his life from a 16-year-old roofer earning £20 a day to a successful property developer with a net worth of £2million. Engaged to Oak trees star Jorgie Porter, Ollie recently starred alongside her in a reality TV show Drama queensThe show offered a behind-the-scenes look at their lives in Lancashire and Ollie’s property business.
His company Pinnacle Holdings has been around for 10 years now. Ollie has partnered with international footballers and billionaire businessmen, and has advised on projects worth £500 million. His journey began with saving £30,000 between the ages of 16 and 20, which he used to buy, renovate and flip a house for £65,000.
Inspired by his grandfather Zdzislaw Piotrowski, a concentration camp survivor who moved to Britain without any English language skills, Ollie wanted to build a unique investment company. Pinnacle Holdings advises investors where to invest their money and works with them, taking a cut at the end rather than up front.
Ollie’s first major success came after a year of networking in posh London hotels, which led to a partnership with a Saudi general.
Ollie rekindles his relationship with Jorgie after a chance meeting at a hotel and continues to build Pinnacle, planning to develop a luxury off-grid resort called Minimo.
Jorgie, a baby herself who was born in December and celebrates her birthday at Christmas, says: “I’m heavier this time, it really hurts and I also complain more.”
“This time it’s a completely different pregnancy – I feel bigger, wider, heavier. Things hurt more and faster. I’m even dumber, I’m really dumb.”
Working during pregnancy
Jorgie joined Hollyoaks in 2008 as Theresa McQueen, but has stepped down from the role a few times, most recently due to maternity leave last year.
She admits she “hasn’t really been active” lately, saying: “Working and being pregnant is quite tough because I just want to eat a lot.
“As an actress, you can’t eat all the time at work, you’re not allowed to.
“But also driving and all the other things you have to do for your job are quite tough.
“I don’t mind complaining about it now because I know it will only be like this for a while.”
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This is the second time Jorgie has revealed the gender of her baby in a magazine, but today we’re doing things a little differently.
Gender revealing has become incredibly popular in recent years. And it’s not just celebrities who are doing it: sites like TikTok allow people to share their happy news with the world.
The big reveal
The page Gender Reveal Miami — where parents celebrate with fireworks, smoke bombs, pink G-wagons and even fake TNT — has 1 million followers and nearly 34 million likes.
What’s the story behind gender reveal and why is everyone doing it?
What is a gender reveal?
Gender reveal parties are celebrations where expectant parents announce the gender of their baby in a creative and often dramatic way.
These events have become extremely popular, especially through social media.
The trend started in the late 2000s and has since become extremely popular.
The concept was popularized by parents who wanted to share their enthusiasm with family and friends in a memorable and engaging way.
General methods:
- Cakes: Cutting a cake filled with blue or pink filling.
- Balloons: Bursting a balloon to release colored confetti.
- Smoke bombs: Release colored smoke.
- Piñatas: Break a piñata and reveal colored candies or confetti.
- Fireworks: Using fireworks to make the colors blue or pink shine.
Why are they so popular?
- Influence of social media: Platforms like Instagram, Facebook and YouTube have amplified the trend, with many parents posting videos and photos that go viral.
- Milestone Celebration: It’s an additional way for parents to celebrate an important milestone during pregnancy.
- Creativity: These events offer parents the opportunity to be creative and personalize their announcement.
- Share in the community: They offer the opportunity to involve family members and friends in the pregnancy.
Controversies:
- Safety concerns: Some methods of revealing a child’s gender have led to accidents and even forest fires.
- Environmental impact: The use of non-biodegradable materials and fireworks can have consequences for the environment.
- Inclusivity: There is a growing awareness and sensitivity towards non-binary and transgender identities, leading to criticism that these events can be exclusionary.
Despite the controversies, gender reveal parties continue to evolve.
Some parents opt for more eco-friendly and inclusive ways to celebrate their birthday, while others choose to ditch the tradition altogether.
In short, gender reveal is a modern trend driven by social media, creativity and the desire to celebrate milestones.
However, they also bring with them their fair share of controversy, leaving some wondering how to share their baby news.
Jorgie kept it a bit more low-key: she cut the cake and popped the balloons at home in the beautiful kitchen of her country house in the northwest of the US.
The result, which you can see in the video at the top of this article, is that she is having her first girl.
Looking at his pink-filled cake, Ollie admits, “I’m definitely not ready for this yet.”
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“She’s going to be a feisty girl,” adds Jorgie.
“I’m starting to panic a little bit, because of course I’m a girl and I remember what I was like as a child.
“So it’s probably going to be a lot of whining and angry outbursts.”
Ollie even jokes that he’s “going to build another house” to escape the madness.
