‘Degrassi: The Next Generation’ Star Reveals Pregnancy

Degrassi: The Next Generation star Lauren Collins is pregnant! Collins, 36, shared the happy news with her fans on Jan. 2. She and her husband, actor Jonathan Malen, are also parents to 2-year-old son Charlie Sebastian Malen.

“New Year, New Look, New Baby,” a smiling Collins shared on Instagram. “Coming Spring ’23!!!” She included a selfie with her hand on her growing baby bump and added the hashtag “hun in the oven.”

Many of Collins’ fellow actors celebrated the news. “Yayyy! Congrats to the whole fam,” Annie Clark wrote. “Congrats,” Andrea Lewis simply wrote. Lewis and Clark also starred in Degrassi: The Next Generation.

“Congratulations Lauren! Your family is so so beautiful. So thrilled for you! What a lucky baby,” Shadowhunters star Sydney Meyer wrote. “So exciting!! Congrats,” Ashley Leggat of Life with Derek fame wrote.

Collins starred as mean girl Paige Michalchuk on the first seven seasons of Degrassi: The Next Generation. She also played the role in Degrassi: Minis, Degrassi Goes Hollywood, and Degrassi: Next Class. The Ontario native also starred in the shows I Was a Sixth Grade Alien, Kroll Show, Being Erica, The Strain, Sex/Life, and Pretty Hard Cases. Collins’ movie credits include Charlie Bartlett, Take the Lead, and The Christmas Chronicles.

Collins and Malen got engaged in 2017 and married in October 2018. They welcomed their son Charlie in March 2020. “Charlie Sebastian Malen… March 6th, 2020… Read all the books, take all the courses, ask all the questions. But the truth is, nothing can prepare you for the intensity of childbirth and those first few days at home,” Collins wrote after Charlie was born. “The one thing that everyone IS right about? It’s worth it. I love you, little man.”

When the couple celebrated Charlie’s second birthday, Collins shared a collection of photos from his party. “I love you more than you love pots and pans my funny, sweet and caring monkey doodle,” she wrote.

Degrassi: The Next Generation ran from 2001 to 2015 and is famous for helping launch the careers of Drake, Nina Dobrev, and many other Canadian stars. After the show was canceled, Netflix aired a four-season follow-up show called Degrassi: Next Class. HBO Max planned to revive the franchise, but it was ultimately canceled during the Warner Bros. Discovery merger. The Degrassi franchise launched in 1979 with the original series, The Kids of Degrassi Street.