THE Handmaid’s Tale star Yvonne Strahovski has revealed how plans to keep her baby bump hidden while filming were brought undone by her one “gross” pregnancy symptom.

In a plot element central to the TV series, which is based on the Margaret Atwood novel of the same name, Strahovski’s character Serena Waterford is unable to have children.

Speaking to The Project on Wednesday, the Australian actor, 35, said the irony of falling pregnant during filming was not lost on her.

“Of course there is a lot of blessed be the fruit jokes,” Strahovski said.

Filming series two while in the first few months of her pregnancy made it impossible to hide from the show’s cast and crew.

“It was quite interesting hiding the pregnancy actually, because my first trimester was episode nine through to the end of Handmaid’s Tale,” Strahovski explained.

“There is a lot of pregnancy symptoms that nobody tells you about, which I am sure all women are familiar with, but I had no idea — this is really gross — I had excessive saliva.”

To make matters worse the unusual symptom was so severe the actor had to carry “a little spittoon” around with her on set.

“In the end I was over hiding it so I just sort of said, ‘you know what I’m pregnant!’” Strahovski said.

Earlier this month the Dexter star revealed on Instagram she was expecting her first child with husband Tim Loden.

“So very exciting to watch & feel this little Peanut growing every day!” Strahovski captioned a photo of her baby bump.