Lillia Turner has won huge praise for her portrayal of Lily Slater in EastEnders over the past three years and, in her first major storyline on the BBC One soap, Lily Slater has just given birth to her baby girl in dramatic scenes.

The actress, 14, joined the cast of EastEnders in September 2020, having taken over the role of Lily from Aine Garvey, 12, who starred in the soap from 2014 until 2019.

Lillia has proven to be the perfect fit for the role of Lily, who is the 13-year-old daughter of Stacey Slater (Lacey Turner) and Ryan Molloy (Neil McDermott).

While we're familiar with Lillia's soap role, what do we know about the actress away from EastEnders?

Lillia is 14 years old in real life, just one year older than her soapland character. She made her EastEnders debut back in 2019, when she starred in two episodes as Alyssa.

Lillia then landed the role of Lily in September 2020 and has remained on the soap ever since. The actress tends to keep out of the limelight in real life and not much is known about her family or previous acting work.

She clearly impressed EastEnders bosses during her first short-lived stint on the show and she and on-screen mum Lacey, 34, have proven to be an iconic mum-and-daughter soap duo.

Lillia then landed her first major storyline in EastEnders in January 2023.

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After hosting a New Year's Eve party at their family home which resulted in finding out that the Slater clan were suffering with carbon monoxide poisoning due to a faulty boiler, Lily found herself in hospital.

It was then dramatically revealed to worry mum Stacey that after a series of tests, doctors found that Lily is actually pregnant.

As time has gone on, the young mum-to-be has been coming to terms with the idea of becoming a mother, just as she celebrated her thirteenth birthday in June.

The BBC soap finally aired the scenes where Lily gave birth to her daughter on September 5. The emotional episode prompted many to praise bosses for their amazing handling of the storyline.

Lily went into labour while she was at home, just as mum Stacey was left to face her stalker, Theo Hawthorne. A the ambulance was delayed to take Lily to the hospital which didn't leave mum Stacey with a ton of options. Stacey’s mother Jean Slater then arrived at the house to find Lily in full labour, meaning they had no other option but to prepare to welcome the baby at home.

EastEnders legend Lacey previously opened up about filming with Lillia and told Digital Spy: "Lilia is such a great little actress – there's something about her that is so warm and so natural, and her instincts are just bang-on."

The 34 year old added: "She's been so desperate for a storyline of her own for so many years, so to see her have one is lovely. To watch her absolutely nail it has just been brilliant.

"I've tried to stay out of it as much as I can because Lilia actually doesn't need any help, tips or guidance because she's just great. She's got something that is so natural that I don't want to take that away from her."

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