Rebecca Ferguson has revealed the father of her third child walked out on her and admitted to cheating on her when she told him she was pregnant.

The 28-year-old star was left ''heartbroken'' and feeling ''shameful'' when her ex confessed he didn't want anything to do with their daughter Arabella, now three weeks, because he had another girlfriend, and she was devastated when he left her to go through a tough nine-month pregnancy alone.

She said: ''On the outside everyone must have thought everything was rosy at home. I kept a smile on my face and kept all my feelings inside because I had this awful feeling of shame, but I was heartbroken.

''Carrying Arabella for all those months on my own was so hard. But I thought there are two ways I could go about it.

''I can sit there and be bitter and angry at him, or accept life is short and I'm not going to waste my precious time with Arabella thinking of him.''

The mother-of-three - who also has children, Lillie, 10, and eight-year-old Karl Jr. - admits she felt ''in denial and went into total shock'' when she found out she was pregnant for a third time but that soon turned to anger when the father, who she doesn't want to name, abandoned her.

She added to HELLO! magazine: ''It was quite heartbreaking, to be honest - not that he wasn't ready to be a dad, but his reaction to me.

''He said he didn't want to carry on with us and then he admitted he had a girlfriend.

''It wasn't just heartbreaking, it was shameful for me. I remember thinking, 'People are going to think bad of me.'

''Apparently his girlfriend knew about me but chose to accept it, but I had no idea about her.

''I was fuming when I found out, I was so angry. And the main focus from him was to protect her feelings and her family's feelings. The way I was treated was wrong.''

Since giving birth to Arabella last month, Rebecca insists she wants to ''thank'' her daughter's father - who she knew growing up in Liverpool and had dated in 2012 before recently reconciling - and ''wishes him well'' with his girlfriend.

Another of Rebecca's exes, Karl Dures - the father of Lillie and Karl Jr. - and his mother have since moved in with the former 'X Factor' star to help her out with her three kids, but the she insists the pair are just friends rather than in a relationship.

Read the full interview in this week's HELLO! magazine.