Footy star Josh Reynolds who was left shattered when his jailbird ex Arabella Del Busso faked pregnancies reveals birth of baby whose name has a very special meaning

A lovestruck Josh Reynolds has announced the birth of his daughter four years after he went through hell when his ex-con Arabella Del Busso faked pregnancies and accused him of assaulting her.

The former Bulldogs NRL star revealed the heartwarming news that he and his partner Ciarne Denham are parents to a baby girl named Lenora Kelly Nicole Reynolds in an Instagram post on Friday.

‘On November 12 at 3.37 pm my life became complete, anyone who knows me will know how much I have always wanted a small family. What makes this so special is that I get to do it with my best friend @ciarnedenham,” he wrote.

“I am forever grateful for what you did to your body for us and our family, and I promise to take care of you forever.

‘Her two middle names are my mothers and her special aunts’ names, the reason we did this was because they are the two kindest, loving and strongest women I know.

“I want her to look exactly like these two special women, so we thought it would be appropriate to have them in our beautiful angel name.”

Reynolds’ partner Ciarne Denham cradles her baby girl, who is named after two special family members

The ex-Bulldogs star made a heartwarming promise to his daughter as he announced her arrival into the world

‘Finally to my little angel, Lenora, Lenni, Len. Daddy promises to always put you first and protect you forever, my love, thank you for making me the happiest man in the world. Daddy loves you xx.”

The post was accompanied by a series of photos of the new arrival and her proud parents at the hospital.

NRL stars past and present including Jackson Hastings, Reed Mahoney, Keith Galloway, Josh Addo-Carr and Josh Morris showed their love to the couple by leaving heartfelt comments.

The joyful news comes after Reynolds was left shattered when he discovered Del Busso had lied to him when she said she had suffered a miscarriage while pregnant with him.

She also accused him of assaulting her, but the charges were later dropped, and the former five-eighth discovered she hadn’t even told him her real name.

“It’s shocking…I’ve lived with who knows how long, and that scares me,” Reynolds said in February 2020.

“There is no Netflix series, there is nothing as good as her trick. Like I said before, I feel weird, but she played with my emotions, she really did.”

Del Busso faked three pregnancies during their one-year relationship, using one of his lifelong dreams to manipulate him.

Reynolds was left devastated when his ex Arabella Del Busso (pictured together) lied to him about suffering miscarriages

Del Busso (pictured) was later sentenced to prison for stealing more than $52,000 from her employer while working at a medical center

Reynolds had told her he always wanted to be a father and claimed Del Busso used that to her advantage.

‘I’ve always wanted to be a father, but that’s not the case at the moment, but she was smart. She knew what to do,” he added.

“I can stand here and say, Arabella, whatever your name is, you told me you were going to bring me and my mother down, but we’re still standing.” We’re still here.

“You tried to bring me, my family and my mother down and it didn’t work.”

Reynolds also claimed she lied about her mother’s death, claiming she had cancer to trick him and other ex-boyfriends into giving her money.

Del Busso was sentenced earlier this year to 20 months behind bars after pleading guilty to two counts of theft as an employee between September 2019 and February 2020.

She was working for a medical center in Sydney when she pocketed $35,785 from the Kogarah facility and $16,565 from the Randwick office for five months before a manager noticed the financial discrepancies.

Reynolds and Denham announced they were expecting in June, sharing a clip from a gender reveal showing him swinging a golf ball in the couple’s backyard before the ball exploded in a puff of pink dust.

“When I was a young boy I had so many dreams, but my main one was to become a father and have a beautiful little family,” he wrote.

‘Today Ciarne and I found out we are having a daughter Reynolds. “I promise to take care of you, protect you forever, and always put you first,” he continued.

“I can’t explain how excited I am to bring this little queen into this world with a woman I absolutely adore and love.”

He debuted his relationship with Denham in 2022 when they shared a photo of themselves at Disneyland in Paris online.

The cheerful duo wore matching Mickey and Minnie Mouse ears, while Josh held a smiling Ciarne in his arms.