Sian Welby admits she fretted over losing her presenting role on This Morning after taking maternity leave following the birth of daughter Ruby
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She is one of ITV's biggest upcoming stars and was even touted as a real option to replace Holly Willoughby as This Morning host last year.
But Sian Welby has revealed she feared for her job when she had a child in June, admitting she thought the broadcaster would 'decide someone else is better'.
The presenter, 38, had daughter Ruby, eight months, with her radio producer fiance Jake Beckett and took three months off before heading back onto the This Morning sofa, as well as Capital FM's studios.
The daytime TV star told The Sun she had 'dark thoughts' of being replaced at her dream jobs while she was on maternity leave.
She said: 'I worried I would be off for a month and they would decide someone else is better and then they would replace me. Those are the dark thoughts you have.
'I think most women in the TV industry will admit you get a bit nervous about having time off to have a baby, especially if you have just worked your whole life to get where you are, which I have.
Sian Welby has revealed that she feared for her job when she had a child last year, admitting she thought the broadcaster would 'decide someone else is better'
The presenter, 38, had daughter Ruby, eight months, with her radio producer fiance Jake Beckett last June
She took three months off before heading back onto the This Morning sofa, as well as the Capital FM studio with Jordan North and Chris Stark (pictured)
'I took three months in the end, which wasn't very long but for me that is the longest that I've ever been off work and I fully embraced it.'
Sian's rise to becoming one of the most recognisable faces on TV has been a rapid one and she admitted that potentially having this progress stall deterred her from having a child earlier in her career.
The Nottingham-born presenter insisted that This Morning and Capital FM chiefs did everything they could to make her feel comfortable during her time off last summer and that it showed things in the industry were changing for the better.
She accepted she was lucky to be part of such a supportive team on the ITV programme, revealing that Alison Hammond and Dermot O'Leary have both made her feel particularly at ease.
Sian also shed light on her idols within the industry, admitting that she looked up to both Holly and her replacement Cat Deeley from a young age.
In August, the star and her fiance brought their adorable new addition to the This Morning studio as she picked up her presenting duties once again following her swift maternity leave.
Looking over at her bundle of joy, Sian said: 'Little Ruby, oh it's so sweet to have her with me today because I was quite nervous about leaving her, do you know what I mean?'
The presenter returned to her Capital FM show alongside Jordan North and Chris Stark a month later and has been settling back into the studio over the last few months.
In August, the star and her fiance (pictured, right) brought their adorable new addition to the This Morning studio as she picked up her presenting duties once again
She accepted she was lucky to be part of such a supportive team on the ITV programme during her time off as she spent time with baby Ruby
The radio host explained in October that she had broken part of the Big Brother set while joking around during a visit and the producers were not happy
Her maternity leave revelation comes after Sian told listeners the real reason she is banned from the Big Brother House.
The radio host explained that she had broken part of the set while joking around during a visit and the producers were not happy.
Sian said the mistake happened the day before the set and since the mishap she has not been back.
The presenter told the reality show's host Will Best: 'At the time I couldn't talk about it - I wasn't allowed. I genuinely got in a lot of trouble for this but it was so innocent. So this time last year a lot of us got invited down to see the house.
'When I went to see it, it was the day before the launch and I was with one of our video producers, Emi.
'So we were going in all the cupboards and going on the bed and so what we thought was "lets be clever about this, let's get a reverse shot of me looking into the wardrobes."
'So to do that she had to get inside the wardrobe and then I said "well let me get a picture of you inside the wardrobe because it'll make us laugh one day". As I went to take the picture, she literally fell through the back of it.'
