Strictly's Gleb Savchenko welcomes baby daughter with wife Elena Samodanova

It's the couple's second child

Former Strictly Come Dancing star Gleb Savchenko has announced that he's welcomed a baby daughter with wife Elena Samodanova.

The professional dancer shared the lovely news with fans after his wife Elena gave birth to their second child in Sydney, Australia.

In a statement, the dancer said: 'Mother and baby are doing great and sister Olivia couldn't be happier. Elena and baby are doing great. Olivia is very excited to meet her younger sister.'

The former Strictly star also took to Twitter to share his joy about the new arrival, where he also announced the baby name they'd chosen - Zlata.

He wrote: '@ElenaSamodanova & I are so pleased to welcome our new baby girl Zlata into the world born at 10:26pm on 1st August weighing 3.6kg 👶🏼🎀🍼🏩'

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Gleb was part of the Strictly family in 2015, when he danced with TV and radio presenter Anita Rani.

Gleb made an appearance on Strictly Come Dancing in 2015

But his journey on the show ended after only one series, as he left to join the American show Dancing With The Stars to be closer to his family.

This week, he announced he was leaving the Dancing With The Stars tour to join his wife Elena in Sydney, where she was about to welcome their second child.

A photo posted by on

In a video addressing his fans, Gleb said: 'I've had the best time on the Dancing With The Stars tour but I won't be doing shows any more this tour because I'm going to be joining Elena in Sydney where our new baby girl will be born.'

'I hope you all understand and I'll see you real soon.'

A photo posted by on

Speaking to PEOPLE magazine in March about becoming a dad for the second time, Gleb said Elena's second pregnancy was planned, and it was the right time for the couple to extend their family.

The couple seemed over the moon when they made an appearance at a film premiere in May

'We were planning. We wanted to have another child. It's the time. Olivia is already six, so she can help a little.'

'She wanted to have a little sister, so we were like, 'That's a great chance. That's a great opportunity for us.' We're in L.A. now settled and everything's great, so it's fun.'

Congratulations to the lovely family!

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