EastEnder Shane Ritchie wants to adopt

EastEnders star Shane Richie has revealed he wants to adopt a child - after becoming a father for the fifth time.

The actor, who plays Albert Square's Alfie Moon, wants to expand his brood even further after adding daughter Romalie to his family two months ago.

And he told Hello! magazine that he and wife Christie were "serious" about adoption.

"We certainly would do it," Richie said. "We were talking about looking into it at Christmas so we can spend some quality time with Romalie this summer.

"We know we'll have to jump through hoops, but it's something we are serious about, so we are going to get someone round from the local council to talk through what we have to do.

"There's enough love in this house and enough room and I think we could give a kid a chance who may not necessarily otherwise get a chance. We are definitely up for it."

The couple showed off their new baby for the first time in the magazine.

Richie has two sons from his marriage to Coleen Nolan, plus two more children, Mackenzie and Lolita, from his current marriage.

"I would love more kids," said Christie. "Motherhood is everything I dreamt it would be. All I wanted was to be married and to have children and to be happy - I couldn't ask for anything more. We have talked about adopting, so we will see."

The full interview is in the new issue of Hello!, which is out now.