Hollywood actress Hilary Swank has revealed she’s going to be a mother for the first time – and that she’s having twins.

The two-time Oscar-winner broke the news live on the Good Morning America programme.

“This is something that I’ve been wanting for a long time and my next thing is I’m gonna be a mom,” said Swank. “And not just of one, but of two. I can’t believe it.”

She also posted pictures of herself holding her stomach on Instagram, with the caption “Coming soon…DOUBLE feature!”

Swank said colleagues on her latest show, Alaska Daily, had no idea until Wednesday’s announcement but that she had recently had to cut open some jeans on set to make them fit.

The 48-year-old married entrepreneur Philip Schneider four years ago and she told US media that twins run in both their families.

Swank has won two best actress Academy Awards – for playing a transgender character in 1999’s Boys Don’t Cry, and as a boxer in Clint Eastwood’s Million Dollar Baby (2004).