Simon Thomas announces his wife Derrina Jebb is pregnant with their first child

Simon Thomas has announced that his wife Derrina is pregnant with their first child.

It comes five years after the Sky Sports presenter, 49, lost his first wife Gemma to blood cancer in 2017, three days after she was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia. 

Simon made the happy announcement that he would be expanding his family with a sweet Instagram post on Saturday as he shared a snap of Derrina’s ultrasound scan.

Simon penned: ‘Fourteen months ago today, @chrissayburn & @brittanysipling sang this beautiful song of blessing over us.

‘There’s another little blessing on its way…!’

Alongside he shared a video with clips from their wedding day before their hands slowly revealed the scan.

Cute: Simon made the happy announcement that he would be expanding his family with a sweet Instagram post on Saturday as he shared a snap of his wife’s ultrasound scan

He also shared a heartwarming collage of photos from his life with Derrina, 31,  along with a snap of the couple smiling with his son Ethan, 12, who he shared with Gemma.

Fellow TV presenters Dan Walker, Vernon Kay and Jenni Falconer congratulated him on his news. 

Two years after Gemma’s death, Simon found love with Derrina and they wed in a ceremony at Norwich Cathedral in July 2021.

Tragic: The Sky Sports presenter, 49, lost his first wife Gemma (both pictured with Ethan) to blood cancer in 2017, just three days after being diagnosed with adult acute myeloid leukemia

The former Blue Peter presenter shared a snap of himself looking elated on his wedding day as he walked his elegant bride down the aisle before an applauding congregation of well-wishers. 

Captioning the heartwarming image, the Norfolk-born father-of-one, who lost his first wife Gemma to leukaemia at the end of 2017, simply wrote: ‘Love. Wins.’

The happy couple’s big day was attended by a host of Simon’s TV presenter pals, including several former Blue Peter and CBBC presenters. 

Love: Alongside he shared a video with clips from their wedding day before their hands slowly revealed the scan

Exciting reveal: The couple’s hands and Simon’s son Ethan’s hands were brought away to then show the ultrasound scan 

Simon frequently talks candidly about his late wife’s tragic death and last month said his new wife Derrina struggles with ‘guilt’ in the lead up to anniversaries of Gemma’s death.

Appearing on Kate Ferdinand’s Blended podcast, he said that he views anniversaries of his first wife’s passing as simply a ‘marker in time’. 

But Derrina feels the family should do more to celebrate her life for the sake of Ethan, who Simon shares with Gemma.

Baby on the way: The sweet video shared by Simon also included a closer-up image of the ultrasound scan 

Simon said: ‘I think sometimes you struggle a little bit with guilt, in particular around anniversaries. I’m very comfortable with anniversaries as in I don’t overthink them. 

‘I think the first year when you go through loss, those firsts are massive and every first is a hurdle to get over, but with time it becomes easier.

‘I’m not one who, any anniversary wants to do anything particularly significant. They’re just, for me, markers in time. But from Ethan’s point of view it’s a ‘Would you like to do something?’.’

Family: He also shared a heartwarming collage of photos from his life with Derrina along with a snap of the couple smiling with his son Ethan, 12, who he shared with Gemma

Doting: Simon also took to his Story on Saturday to share a snap with Ethan who he said would be an ‘amazing big brother’

Simon explained that while Derrina is often keen to mark the anniversary, Ethan often prefers a low-key day, perhaps sending a ‘balloon with a little message’ rather than a large event. 

‘I think sometimes she feels we should be doing more because of that guilt you feel, that maybe we’re not doing enough, and I try to reassure Derrina and say it’s fine’. 

Derrina opened up about taking on her new husband’s grief, insisting that she was more emotional than Simon and Ethan at Gemma’s last two anniversaries, despite never having met her.  

‘You just feel this real guilt and I definitely feel that especially the last two [anniversaries] I have been probably more emotional than you two [Simon and Ethan], she said. 

Happy day: Two years after Gemma’s death, Simon found love with Derrina and they wed in a ceremony at Norwich Cathedral in July 2021 

‘It’s is silly because I didn’t know Gemma, but you take on what everyone else is feeling in the wider circle. 

‘I guess there’s a bit of sensitivity, but it’s also that empath just thinking, ‘This is horrendous’. I definitely take on other people’s sadness and loss and I definitely get emotional.’ 

She became emotional as she opened up about comparing herself to Gemma, admitting that the ‘little voice in her head’ often tells her that ‘Gemma would have done it better’.  

‘As a woman you’re so aware of how things were and nobody has ever said ‘Mummy would have done it like that, or Gemma would have done it like that’, noone has ever said that.

Joy: Marking her birthday in May 2020, the TV personality thanked then-girlfriend Derrina for making him ‘happier than he dared to believe he could be again’ 

‘But in your head, that little thing on your shoulder will say, ‘She would have done it better, made a birthday really good or Christmas really good’ and you’re so aware of that when you’re in that situation.’ 

Simon’s late wife Gemma Thomas tragically died in November 2017, a year after she was sent home for bed rest by her GP after visiting three times with flu-like symptoms.  

Marking her birthday in May 2020, the TV personality thanked then-girlfriend Derrina for making him ‘happier than he dared to believe he could be again’. 

Sharing a black and white snap of Derrina, Simon said he was ‘head over heels in love’, and said that his and his son’s life had been ‘blessed’ by Derrina, who he started dating in 2018 after reportedly meeting her through a church group. 

Cancer: Simon and Gemma tied the knot in 2005 and were married for 12 years before Gemma suddenly passed away three days after she was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia

Sharing the picture to his Instagram account, he wrote: ‘A very Happy Birthday to this very, very special lady. I can’t begin to express how much this lady has changed my life. 

‘She’s loved me when I was hard to love, stuck with me when I’ve messed up, walked beside me when there were easier paths to tread and made me happier than I ever dared to believe I could be again.’

He added: ‘Sometimes people don’t always see this. They say things like it’s good that she’s able to keep the boys company or be there to look after them. But Derrina isn’t some kind of carer – she’s the woman I have fallen head over heels in love with.

‘My life and my boy’s life has been massively blessed by her and she deserves all the love in the world because she’s a total one off. Happy Birthday @derrina xxxx (I know she’s not a fan of PDA’s’.

Simon and Gemma tied the knot in 2005 and were married for 12 years before Gemma suddenly passed away three days after she was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia. 

Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live in November 2018, the ex sports presenter addressed his new relationship for the first time – though he kept Derrina’s identity anonymous at the time – and said it has been ‘an incredible support’ for him.

The father-of-one admitted he could be falling in love, but said Gemma could never be replaced, saying: ‘I’m very aware she was someone I didn’t know before and have got to know over the last few weeks and months.

‘Right from the early stages – she had this empathy towards me. She’s Christian as well and that’s important to me as a man of faith.

‘She’s been an incredible support for me. She was the only person who would always pick up the phone. What I saw in her, I saw in Gemma. When she said my phone is always on, she meant it.’

The former Blue Peter presenter, who has described himself as a ‘man of faith’, reportedly met Derrina through his church.

Derrina is a church minister’s daughter and currently works in the legal industry.  

Awareness: Simon’s late wife Gemma tragically died in November 2017, a year after she was sent home for bed rest by her GP after visiting three times with flu-like symptoms