Inbetweeners' Joe Thomas and co-star fiancée Hannah Tointon welcome first child

Joe Thomas and his Inbetweeners co-star fiancée Hannah Tointon have welcomed their first child together.

The pair shared a brief romance as Simon and Tara on the much-loved sitcom, though it all went t**s up after three episodes, following an awkward exchange involving Simon angrily slapping his flaccid penis and then exposing himself to a room full of people.

But in reality the actors have had a much more enduring relationship, having been together for more than 10 years – and now they've also welcomed their first child.

Speaking on the Mum's the Word podcast, Hannah's sister Kara shared the news.

The ex-EastEnders star said: "My sister's just had her first. What's funny is that on Joe's side there's only boys, even during the scan they accidentally said he at one point, so they'd gone along thinking it's a boy.

"Everyone playing the shape game etc said she's having a boy, so when they finally had a girl.. it was really brilliant, but it knocked them for six.

"So they hadn't even decided on a girls' name. They left it as a surprise."

According to the Metro, the pair moved in together a couple of years after The Inbetweeners ended in 2010, before getting engaged in 2017.

While they've remained fairly private about their relationship, Thomas, 38, once mentioned his romance with Tointon, 34, in a 2018 interview on Lorraine.

At the time, the duo had teamed up for a comedy film called The Festival, in which Thomas starred as Nick, who was dumped by Tointon's character at his university graduation before heading to a music festival with friends in a bid to try and move on.

Thomas said it had been 'nice and easy' to work alongside Tointon, joking: "I've just got used to it. She's just in everything. Because my brain is so simple, I was just like 'Yep, there she is!'

"It went very well, I think."

Asked if they were able to 'switch off' from talking about work when they got home, Thomas said: "I guess I do try and switch off when I get home, yeah. Doing comedy all day, sometimes you just want to be calm and chilled."

It's not just Thomas and Tointon's relationship that has lived on way beyond The Inbetweeners - Belinda Stewart-Wilson still has people sending her X-rated messages.

The actor, who played Will's mum, was constantly being hit on in the show, and it seems this has been mirrored in the real world too.

Speaking to the Daily Star, the 51-year-old said: "I've had some odd messages and suggestions over the years some of which are so graphic I can't repeat them. But you have to take it with a pinch of salt - it's still nice to be loved."