Five News presenter Natasha Kaplinsky is three months pregnant with her first child, a spokesman for the channel confirmed today.

The announcement comes less than two months after the 35-year-old joined Five, having negotiated a record-breaking three-year contract worth £1 million for the first year alone.

Chris Shaw, Senior Controller at Five said: “Natasha has had a tremendous impact on Five News and we’re delighted to hear the fantastic news about her pregnancy.”

Kaplinsky left the BBC to front Five's news coverage and has sent ratings soaring on the channel’s evening bulletins.

Her first broadcast on February 18 attracted 957,000 viewers, a 43 per cent increase on the average for that slot, and, in what has been dubbed the "Natasha effect", ratings have remained high since.

In an interview with The Times in February she said she had discussed her desire to have children with Five bosses while negotiating her contract. “God yes [I want children], absolutely and of course that was part of what we discussed.”

The newsreader married investment banker Justin Bower in Somerset in August 2005 following a whirlwind romance. They announced their engagement a few months after they met and had known one other five months when they wed.

Kaplinksy has dismissed allegations she was lured from the BBC to Five by money.

“The money side of things I’ve always found very uncomfortable. Chris [Shaw, Five’s Head of News] would probably hate me for saying this, but if they’d halved the money I probably still would have done the job. It absolutely wasn’t the money.”

"After five incredibly rewarding years at the BBC, I found the chance to work with the team at Five too exciting to pass up," Kaplinsky said.

She started her career as a cable TV reporter and rose through the television ranks quickly, moving to Meridian ITV as a reporter and later becoming a presenter. She then worked on London Tonight and Sky News before landing a presenting position on BBC Breakfast and then the corporation’s 6pm bulletin.

Before leaving for Five, she had become one of the BBC’s best-known faces, having also presented flagship events such as Children In Need and appeared on Strictly Come Dancing, which she won, and Who Do You Think You Are?

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