All the secret signs Victoria Coren Mitchell, 51, was pregnant: From talking about taking a ‘little sabbatical’ to carefully planned TV appearances just WEEKS before she gave birth

Victoria Coren Mitchell and her husband David have welcomed their second child together after keeping the pregnancy a secret.

The TV presenter, 51, confirmed their happy news on Twitter on Wednesday, announcing she had welcomed their little one last week.

The news was also shared The times with an announcement confirming they had a baby girl named June Violet.

It read: ‘Mitchell on October 26, 2023 to Victoria and David, a daughter, June Violet, sister of Barbara.’

Victoria – who already shares eight-year-old daughter Barbara with comedian David, 49 – kept her pregnancy a secret before confirming the birth of her second child.

In recent weeks, Victoria hinted at her upcoming maternity leave when she cryptically tweeted about taking a “little sabbatical” from her work as a TV presenter.

She told how she had pre-recorded a number of TV shows, including her hosting gig on Only Connect, while sharing her latest TV column in The Telegraph before her break.

Victoria wrote: ‘My TV column today is the last for a while – I’m taking a little sabbatical, although I’ve recorded some TV shows for people to shout about in my absence. For my last pre-break column I wrote about Carpety Blank and my new friend Lozza.’

Victoria has made few public and red carpet appearances in recent months and was last spotted with her Peep Show star husband David at the V&A 2023 summer party on June 21.

Victoria stunned in a bright pink dress as she hid her pregnancy and held a chic clutch bag over her bump in her final public sighting before giving birth.

She also stepped out with David at the We Will Rock You Gala night at the London Coliseum on June 7, but hasn’t been seen much in public in recent months.

Just weeks before giving birth, Victoria also appeared as a guest presenter on Have I Got News for You, but strategically managed to hide her pregnancy on air.

In the episode, which was released on October 6, Victoria looked stylish in a pink floral print ensemble with a zip-up as she kept quiet about her pregnancy.

The show regular was in the guest chair for the 18th time when she returned to headline the show, along with guest panelists Carol Vorderman and Ignacio Lopez, and team captains Paul Merton and Ian Hislop.

Ahead of the pre-recorded show’s airing, Victoria also took to Instagram to share a smiling photo with Carol, but it was carefully cropped to just their faces.

She captioned the post: “Look, here I am with twisty brainteaser CAROL VORDERMAN at last night’s taping of Have I Got News For You.

‘Also with Ignacio Lopez (a brilliant Spanish comedian who I didn’t know), and of course the iconic Paul Merton and Ian Hislop. It’s on BBC One tonight at 9pm.’

Just weeks later, Victoria confirmed she had welcomed her second child and took to Instagram to announce her and David’s news.

After sharing a photo of herself in a red cloak on October 31, she wrote: “A lot of people are assuming my tweet yesterday was a Halloween costume.”

‘Not at all; I had a baby last week and right now nothing fits me except coats. Fortunately, Only Connect is a pre-record. Happy All Saints’ Day!’.

Fans and famous friends were quick to send their well wishes, with Countdown’s Rachel Riley writing: “Mozel tov, I hope you’re doing well.”

While someone else says: ‘Congratulations, I’m sure everyone is happy to hear some great news now and that’s certainly another Coren Mitchell in the world!’.

While a third joked: “Congratulations, I had a baby 37 years ago and nothing fits at the moment.”

Another wrote: ‘Great news. Congratulations to you and David. And best wishes for the future’.

And: ‘Many congratulations, a new baby, how wonderful.’

Professional poker player Victoria is best known as the host of BBC2’s quiz show Only Connect, while David played the socially awkward Mark in the cult classic sitcom Peep Show.

David, who married Victoria in 2012, previously described their first daughter Barbara as ‘the best human being ever born’.

He said in a chat on The Jonathan Ross Show in 2018: ‘Unfortunately, there is nothing like having a small child for the safety that you are responsible for.

‘You really don’t want the world to spin against the sun and explode. You thought you didn’t want it at first, but you really don’t want it (after having a child).

“That’s the real downside of parenting, and I guess any kind of love makes you more anxious… I’d say love isn’t a stress-relieving exercise, right?

‘What you want is a long period of mild contentment… I’m a family man. I’ve made bad choices and I worry all the time.’

David and Victoria met at a showbiz party in 2007, and although David admitted he was immediately smitten with the fellow writer and presenter, three years passed before they actually got together.

Victoria was in a relationship with someone else at the time and rejected the comedian’s advances.

In his autobiography Back Story, David spoke about the pain of not being with the love of his life for all those years, and how this led him to midnight walks in the park and frequent visits to the pub.

‘I was hopelessly in love. I didn’t tell anyone about it,” the star revealed in his book. “I didn’t tell my best friends or my parents about the enormous sadness that overshadowed my life.”