The Love Island couple spoke candidly about their heartbreaking experience with vanishing twin syndrome
Former Love Island stars Olivia and Alex Bowen appeared on Loose Women on Tuesday to announce the gender of their baby as they grieve their “absorbed twin”.
Olivia and Alex met while they took part in the second series of the ITV dating show in 2016. And although they didn’t win the series, five months after they left the villa Alex asked Olivia to marry him after the pair jetted off to New York.
They already share one son, two-year-old Abel, and even included him in the recent pregnancy announcement on their social media. Before the announcement, Olivia had spoken to OK! at London’s Winter Wonderland during W7 Cosmetics’ private Christmas Party and shared: “Me and Al really do want another child, but I guess it’s just when it happens…
“We are trying for one, but I don’t want to put too much pressure on why it’s not happening or when it will. But I would love another one and Alex would as well, but two is the limit! It’s mad enough with one”.
The clip started with Olivia showing Alex a positive pregnancy test and after the pair celebrated the clip switched over to Abel wearing a sweatshirt that read “Big Brother 2025”. Alongside the post, Olivia wrote: “A moment, a love, Baby no2 – we’re waiting for you.”
Also in the video was the family wearing matching Christmas pyjamas as they held up the baby scan pictures in front of the Christmas tree, as well as Abel kissing the bump and Alex by Olivia’s side at hospital appointments.
The couple appeared on Loose Women during Tuesday’s episode as they announced that they would be having a baby girl due in August this year.
Before they celebrated the news, the pair spoke openly about “vanishing twin syndrome”. This is when one of the twins is lost in the early stages of pregnancy and is absorbed back into the pregnant body.
Olivia shared: “One of the babies didn’t have a heartbeat but I didn’t have the symptoms or any pain. We were just completely flawed”.
A scan revealed that “the baby completely disappeared at 14 weeks”, but Olivia added that although it is “tremendously sad”, “knowing they’re still in there is something to hold on to”.
Olivia continued: “I don’t know I feel like I am so lucky to have experienced that moment of possibly having twins. We felt that for a little bit of time. Even just having those two little babies at that time.”
Alex also admitted: “I built these scenarios up and thinking of the future so when we went for the scan, I just thought it was 100% happening, I was enjoying it. I was an only child so I wanted a big family… that was an amazing thing that got taken away.”
As the couple celebrated the fact they are due to see their daughter in the near future, Olivia added: “I don’t want to forget that they existed, they’re called sunset baby and the one you have is a sunrise baby. It’s an honour to be remembering the baby we had.”
She confessed that she hadn’t heard of this happening before, and said: “One beautiful part is they do absorb into your body they do become part of your body. We have got a really healthy baby who we’re excited to meet.”
After sharing their story online, Olivia admitted that lots of women got into contact with her and shared their own stories: “The amount of stories from women, some of the women were in their 40s 50s with older children who had never told a soul.”
Loose Women airs on weekdays from 12:30pm on ITV1 and is available to stream on ITVX.
