"We conceived within two weeks of me coming back," Zelić says with a laugh. "I came back from having the biggest thing in my career happen to then having the biggest thing in my personal life, so it’s been a really big year. "It feels like the stars have aligned, to use that very dated term, and I've gotten everything I've always longed for. It feels quite surreal." Lucy Zelić with her "colleague and best mate", SBS World Cup co-host Craig Foster. Credit:SBS While she and Gameiro, 25, know the sex of their unborn baby - and have two names ready to go, depending on which one suits best - it's a little piece of information they're keeping to themselves and their loved ones for now. As for the child's arrival in May next year, Zelić says she and Gameiro couldn't be more excited and that while some people might see their romance as a bit of a whirlwind, it's just a natural progression for them.

Corey Gameiro on the field for former team Brisbane Roar in 2017. Credit:AAP "We weren't actively trying, but at the same time we weren't trying to avoid it," Zelić says. "We knew that if we were going to be blessed with the opportunity to have a baby we would welcome it and we're just lucky that it [happened]." Describing her first trimester as "horrific", Zelić jokes about feeling sorry for Gameiro, who was on the wrong end of her bad moods for much of the first three months of the pregnancy. "You’re exhausted, you’re this hormonal cow… you know those wonderful stories of women who are like, ‘Oh I loved being pregnant, I was glowing, I was magical?’... No, no. I was not glowing and I was not magical - I was just miserable," she laughs. That said, "I was lucky I didn’t have morning sickness. I've been really lucky, touch wood, with this pregnancy.

"We had a scan last week and the baby’s heartbeat is nice and strong and the baby's very busy in there so it’s all going really, really well. We just feel really lucky at this point." Calling Gameiro "the sweetest, most loving and just really generous guy", Zelić says he's going to make a wonderful father. "He’s so caring and the kind of guy who I know will be a great role model to our child," she says. "He’s been through so much adversity in his football career and that’s made him a better person. To be able to transfer that to our children is a massive bonus." Gameiro signed a one-year deal with the Central Coast Mariners in May this year, having previously played for Brisbane Roar, Melbourne City and Sydney FC. The deal comes after a difficult few years for the Mariners' number 21, who suffered three major anterior cruciate ligament injuries in as many years before 2018.

Loading The baby news also caps off a huge year for Zelić, who earned herself a legion of new fans in June with a classy response to criticism of her efforts during her World Cup coverage to correctly pronounce the names of international football players. After being labelled "insufferable" and "annoying" by some viewers, Zelić took a moment on air to explain her pronounciation was all about "respecting the cultures we have in Australia". Her response went viral, with many applauding her interest in accuracy and her ability to handle adversity with grace. Speaking now of the viral moment, Zelić says she "stayed well out" of the drama that followed her name around at the time.

"The entire storm was going on around me and I had no idea of it, purely because I'd made the decision before the tournament started in Russia not to look at my social media feed," she says. "I wanted to avoid the drama, but also focus on the task at hand and really enjoy the moment." It's the same ethos she's planning to live by when she becomes a mum. Noting that her due date places her in the very early stages of motherhood when the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup kicks off in France in June next year, Zelić says she will take her new life with a baby as it comes. But she also makes it clear she'll be returning to SBS as soon as she's ready. "They’ve all been so wonderful and so happy for me," she says of her bosses at the broadcaster. "They know that this is something that I've wanted for so long - but I've also made it clear to them that SBS matters to me a lot, just as much as starting a family does. So the plan is to continue.