Forget Dancing with the
Stars, champ Drew Lachey has a much more
prized title now: Daddy.
Lachey and wife Lea, both 29, welcomed their first child, a baby girl,
Thursday in Los Angeles, his rep announced. No details were released about the
newborn--including moniker, vital statistics or toe-tapping prowess--but Us
Weekly reported that child is named Isabella.
"Mom, dad and baby are all happy and healthy," publicist Holly Shakoor said
in a statement.
As are Uncle Nick and the
babe's grandparents.
"We are thrilled and very excited about it all!" Lea's father, Dan Urra, who
flew to L.A. earlier this week with his wife to be with their delivering
daughter, told Us.
Drew Lachey, who formerly crooned in 98 Degrees along with
big bro Nick, has known the former Lea Dellecave nearly as long before tying the knot in October 2000. The two
met in fifth grade, were high school sweethearts and, unlike Nick, even
maintained their romance amid a professional partnership: Lea Lachey is a
choreographer and dancer who toured with 98 Degrees in both capacitites.
And her coaching apparently paid off.
Last month, Drew Lachey and dance partner Cheryl Burke took home the
coveted--if, as he noted, "ugly"--trophy as winners of ABC's second season of
Dancing with the Stars. During the competition, he even credited his
pregnant wife with "helping me with my posture, my feet," per People.
As for his post-victory plans, Lachey was already looking forward to some
quality hoofing time with his sure-to-be daddy's girl.
"In a couple of years my daughter will be cutting a rug around me," he said
at the time. "I'll hold her hands, and she'll be dancing on my feet. I'm looking
forward to that."
Burke, meanwhile, said she expects her partner to be as proficient at
fatherhood as on the dance floor.
"He's going to be a great father," she told People. "He will not spoil
his child, that's for sure. But he's so loving and he's going to love his baby
like no other."
While Lachey is priming up for a major bout of diaper duty, he will get a
temporary, and likely welcome, reprieve next month.
The new papa has just been named cohost of the Miss USA 2006 Pageant on Apr.
21 alongside Access Hollywood's Nancy O'Dell. The event airs live from
Baltimore on NBC.