Stacey Solomon reunites with her pregnant best friend Mrs Hinch with adorable picnic in her garden

They connected over a shared love of cleaning and the proximity in age of their two sons, Rex and Ronnie.

And Stacey Solomon and her pregnant best friend Sophie Hinchliffe – aka Mrs Hinch – were reunited on Thursday for the first time in months due to the coronavirus lockdown.

The Loose Women star, 31, hosted an adorable picnic for the cleaning guru, 30, and her son Ronnie, 22 months, in the garden of her new £1.2million country home in Essex.

In snaps shared to their Instagram accounts, Stacey posed on a picnic blanket while Sophie sat on a swing.

The pair co-ordinated in yellow wearing pieces from Stacey’s In The Style collection with Stacey in a pastel smock dress and Sophie wearing a lemon-patterned shirt dress.

They continued the lemon theme and added a splash of colour to their set-up with yellow cushions, yellow flowers and yellow lemons as decoration. 

The two friends were clearly delighted to be in each others company again as they paid similar gushing tributes to each other on their Instagram pages, insisting that there is ‘no negativity’ between them.

The pair have often been pitted up against each other due to their similar content on their channels, but have always insisted there is no competition between them, just friendship.

Stacey wrote: ‘It’s been far too long and we’ve missed you far too much.. Genuine friends are such a blessing. No negativity, just love and good vibes… 

‘Can’t wait to sit inside with you and squeeze that bump on the sofa. But for now this is perfect’.

Mrs Hinch, who is currently expecting her second child, brought her toddler Ronnie to the picnic as well for a playdate with Rex, Stacey’s two-year-old son.

The cute little boys were seen in videos on their mum’s Stories running around the garden and playing on a tractor.

Rex was dressed in a cream sweater with the words ‘hunny’ on the front, while Ronnie was wearing a bright yellow coat. 

Mrs Hinch announced she was pregnant for the second time on New Year’s Day and in February she confirmed that she’s having another son.

She has not announced her exact due date, but it is thought the baby could arrive in late spring.

Stacey, who announced her engagement to her fiancé Joe Swash in December after he proposed to her on Christmas Eve, is hoping the tie the knot in July this year.  

She was left red faced on Loose Women on Wednesday when Joe accidentally revealed their wedding date, saying they were set to wed on the last Sunday in July (July 25). 

Eamonn Holmes, who was also appearing in the Loose Women special, said: ‘Can you say when it’s happening your wedding?’ 

 Joe said: ‘Stacey are we allowed to say? I never know.’

Stacey told him: ‘You wouldn’t know the date even if you were allowed to say’. To which Joe said: ‘The date is the last Sunday in July.’ 

Furious, Stacey said: ‘Oh my god, why did I bring you here? Fantastic. Good stuff.’ 

Eamonn then trying to gloss over the accidental blunder says: ‘I’m looking at my diary. I’m trying to see where I am on the last Sunday in July. We’re free love’. 

The couple have been busy planning their wedding, which will take place at their new £1.2million home Pickle Cottage after Joe proposed on Christmas Eve. 

Speaking about their ceremony earlier this week, Stacey told OK! Magazine: ‘It will just be me, Joe, my family and the rabbi in the garden at this rate. No food, no disco, nothing. So I’ve not sorted out my wedding and I’ve not sorted out this house.’ 

Viewers soon took to Twitter over Joe’s slip-up. One wrote: ‘There’s going to be a row in the car going home now Joe has let slip when they’re getting married’.

Another added: ‘Joe knows nothing…ha! Wooops’.

Joe also revealed he is planning to have three stag dos. He said: ‘I’ll have one that our kids organised for me, I’ll take them to Alton Towers’, before detailing his plans to jet off to Ibiza and also have a fishing stag do.