A besotted Josh Reynolds has announced the birth of his daughter four years after going through hell when his jailbird ex Arabella Del Busso faked pregnancies and accused him of assaulting her.
The former Bulldogs NRL star revealed the heartwarming news that he and his partner Ciarne Denham are parents to a baby girl named Lenora Kelly Nicole Reynolds in an Instagram post on Friday.
‘At 3.37pm on the 12th of November my life became complete, anyone that knows me will know how much I have always wanted a little family. What makes this so special is I got to do it with my best friend @ciarnedenham,’ he wrote.
‘I am forever greatful for what you put your body through for us and our family and I promise to look after you forever.
‘Her two middle names are my mums and her special aunties names, reason we did this was because they are the two kindest, loving and strongest women I know.
‘I want her to be exactly like these two special women, so we thought was fitting to have them in our beautiful angels name.
An overjoyed Josh Reynolds is pictured with his newborn daughter Lenora Kelly Nicole Reynolds, who arrived on November 12
Reynolds’ partner Ciarne Denham cradles her girl, who has been named after two special family members
The ex-Bulldogs star made a heartwarming promise to his daughter when he announced her arrival to the world
‘Finally to my little angel , Lenora, Lenni, Len. Dad promises to always put you first and protect you forever my darling, thanks for making me the happiest man in the world. Dad loves you xx.’
The post was accompanied by a series of photos of the new arrival and her proud parents in hospital.
NRL stars past and present, including Jackson Hastings, Reed Mahoney, Keith Galloway, Josh Addo-Carr and Josh Morris gave the couple their love by leaving heartfelt comments.
The joyful news comes after Reynolds was left shattered when he discovered Del Busso lied to him when she said she had miscarried while pregnant to him.
She also accused him of assaulting her, with the charges later dropped, and the former five-eighth learned that she didn’t even tell him her real name.
‘It’s shocking … I had who knows living with me for however long, and that scares me,’ Reynolds said in February 2020.
‘There’s no Netflix series, there’s nothing that’s as good as her ploy. Like I said before, I feel silly but she played with my emotions, she really did.’
Del Busso faked three pregnancies during their one-year relationship, using one of his lifelong dreams to manipulate him.
Reynolds was left gutted when his ex Arabella Del Busso (pictured together) lied to him about suffering miscarriages
Del Busso (pictured) was later sentenced to jail for stealing more than $52,000 from her employer when she was working at a medical centre
Reynolds had told her he always wanted to be a father and claimed Del Busso used that to her advantage.
‘I’ve always wanted to be a dad, it’s not to be at the moment, but she was smart. She knew what to do,’ he added.
‘I can stand here and say: Arabella, whatever your name is, you said to me that you’re gonna bring me and my mum down, but we’re still standing. We’re still here.
‘You tried to bring me, my family, my mum down and it didn’t work.’
Reynolds also alleged that she lied about her mother’s death and claimed she had cancer to dupe him and other former boyfriends into giving her money.
Del Busso was sentenced to 20 months behind bars earlier this year after she pleaded guilty to two counts of stealing as an employee between September 2019 and February 2020.
She was working for a Sydney medical centre business when she fleeced $35,785 from the Kogarah facility and $16,565 from the Randwick office over five months before a manager noticed the financial discrepancies.
Reynolds and Denham announced they were expecting back in June, sharing a clip of a gender reveal showing him taking a swing at a golf ball in the couple’s backyard, before the ball exploded into a puff of pink dust.
‘When I was a young boy I had so many dreams, but my main one was to be a father and have a beautiful little family,’ he wrote.
‘Today Ciarne and I found out we are having a little baby girl Reynolds. I promise to look after you, protect you forever and always put you first,’ he continued.
‘I can’t explain how happy I am to bring this little queen into this world with a woman who I absolutely adore and love.’
He debuted his relationship with Denham back in 2022 when they shared a picture online of themselves at Disneyland in Paris.
The happy duo were wearing matching Mickey and Minnie Mouse ears, with Josh holding a smiling Ciarne in his arms.
