A Rotherhithe couple have had what they believe to be the first ever ‘gender reveal’ on the river Thames.
Chloe O’Brien and her partner Tommy, who are childhood friends and both grew up in the area, announced that their first baby would be a girl on a speedboat on the Thames at Greenwich on Sunday (April 3).
Chloe, 27, told the News that they had a party at a nearby restaurant with family and close friends before Tommy, 29, asked her to come outside with him.
“All of a sudden a speedboat showed up,” she said. “I couldn’t believe it.” The speedboat operators lit up flares that shot out pink smoke, showing that the child would be a girl.
This is the couple’s first baby. Chloe, who is five months pregnant, said she was “absolutely over the moon” that she was having a girl.
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Gender reveals are originally an American phenomenon but have become more common in the UK in recent years. There have been some spectacular gender reveal events, as well as others that caused controversy – and several that led to huge amounts of damage.
A pyrotechnical device used in a gender reveal in California in September 2020 started the El Dorado forest fire that eventually spread across 22,000 acres, destroyed ten buildings and killed one firefighter, before eventually being put out more than two months later.
No such consequences have been reported from Sunday’s event.