Bill and Giuliana Rancic 'Devastated' over Surrogate's Miscarriage

When it comes to building a family, E! stars Bill and Giuliana Rancic have not faced an easy road.

Now, Bill reveals to PEOPLE some recent sad news that has them reeling once again.

“This whole season on Giuliana and Bill we’ve been trying to have another baby,” says Rancic of the E! reality show that follows him, wife Giuliana and their son Duke, who was born via surrogate in August 2012.

“Unfortunately our surrogate Delphine, who we love very much, had a miscarriage. It’s something that we didn’t see coming. We were devastated.”

Rancic says that while they were optimistic about this pregnancy, they also were cautious. “She was about nine weeks pregnant. We were pretty close to getting into the safe zone,” says Rancic.

“We experienced a miscarriage years ago when we were trying with Giuliana, so we had been keeping the pregnancy news tight to the vest.”

‘Double Sadness’ Met with Toughness

In the years that the couple tried to conceive on their own, Giuliana, who had undergone multiple in vitro treatments, also was diagnosed with breast cancer, before turning to their surrogate who gave birth to son Duke.

“Delphine is amazing. We hit the surrogate lottery when we met her. Obviously this was no fault of hers,” says Rancic.

“It’s a double sadness because we didn’t want her to feel bad. And Giuliana was rather distraught at first, but she’s tough. In times like this we rely on our faith. Once the tears went away we started to look towards the future.”

That future includes busy days running after the toddler they already have.

“Duke just turned 21 months and he’s a ball of energy. From the minute he wakes up he is just running.” And still flirting: “He just walks up to ladies at the Coffee Bean and starts batting his eyelashes and smiling at them. It’s the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.”

RELATED: Giuliana Rancic: Son Duke ‘Is a Huge Flirt’

Not Giving Up

As for their next child, Rancic says they’re not giving up any time soon.

“We’re fighters. Hopefully we’re going to have good news and Delphine will be on board one more time. We’ve had to battle it out and that’s something that we’re going to continue to do.”

On Tuesday’s season finale episode of Giuliana and Bill, the couple’s doctor reveals their recent pregnancy try is unsuccessful.