What a year 2011 has been for actor and war hero J.R. Martinez from winning the Mirror Ball trophy to becoming a house word name to becoming a dad soon.

The “All My Children” actor whose real name is Jose Rene Martinez just announced that his long-time girlfriend Diana Gonzalez-Jones is pregnant with their first child.  J.R., 28,  told People Magazine “We found out just last week it’s a girl and we are over the moon.”  The couple met on the set of “All My Children” where Gonzalez-Jones worked as a personal assistant to one of the producers.

This announcement comes on the heals of his stellar performance and perfect-score performance on the 13th season of Dancing with the Stars. 

Since then J.R. has been personally invited to visit the Pentagon by Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, will be the Grand Marshal of the 123rd Tournament of Roses Parade on January 1, 2012 and has appeared on CNN’s Heroes Award presentation amongst other television appearances.

It was back in 2003 that J.R. almost lost his life when a Humvee in Karbala, Iraq hit a land-mine resulting in 40 percent of his body being burnt.  After 34 months in the hospital and more than 30 cosmetic and skin-graft surgeries, he went on to inspire many as a motivational speaking and actor on “All My Children”.