‘Bachelor’ Host Jesse Palmer and Wife Emely Fardo Are Expecting Their First Baby (Exclusive)

Bachelor Nation keeps growing!

Bachelor host Jesse Palmer and his wife Emely Fardo are expecting their first baby together, a daughter, in early January, PEOPLE can exclusively announce.

“I have two brothers and four nephews, so we are finally getting a female addition to the Palmer family!” Palmer, 44, tells PEOPLE. “Emely has always wanted a daughter and she is so maternal by nature, I’ve always known that she is going to be the best mom.”

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The model, 34, can’t wait to meet her little girl. “I’m so excited to share life with our daughter, take her on fun adventures and share with her the lessons this life has taught us,” she adds.

The baby has already won over the former NFL player. “I know our daughter is going to walk all over me — she already has me wrapped around her finger!” Palmer says, also admitting, “I’m a little nervous since I never grew up with girls in the house.”

Fardo tells PEOPLE she’s felt “really good up to this point” in her pregnancy.

“I’m working out daily and my appetite has increased exponentially, which I’m not complaining about!” she shares.

Welcoming a baby girl means the couple’s Aussiedoodle Lou Lou will become a big sister.

“We think Lou Lou is excited about having a baby sister!” the couple says. “Every time we mention the words ‘sister’ or ‘baby,’ Lou Lou perks up and becomes very focused and interested in what mommy and daddy are talking about.”

Palmer and Fardo started dating in 2017 and got engaged in Paris in July 2019. They quietly tied the knot in tied the knot in Connecticut in June 2020 after canceling their planned wedding in Provence, France due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We were only able to invite a small group of close friends that live in the greater N.Y.C. area, and that were in quarantine at the time,” the pair told to PEOPLE at the time. “We had a lovely afternoon and look forward to celebrating our love with our parents and immediate families all together soon!”

In July 2022, Fardo revealed on Instagram that she and the Holiday Baking Championship host said “I do” again at Château De La Gaude, a luxury hotel in Aix-en-Provence, France. Regardless of the size of their initial wedding, Palmer and Fardo said they “feel so grateful and lucky to have found each other!”

Palmer will host the season 20 finale of The Bachelorette on Monday at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.