Rihanna delivered a show-stopping performance at the 2023 Super Bowl halftime show, but not just because the singer performed some of her biggest hits.
No, it’s because Rihanna has confirmed she is pregnant with her second child – nearly nine months after she and rapper A$AP Rocky welcomed a baby boy.
A representative for Rihanna confirmed the pregnancy speculation in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter, after many viewers believed the Fenty Beauty founder was sporting a baby bump during her halftime show performance.
Last year, Rihanna shocked fans once again when she revealed in a baby bump-baring photoshoot that she was expecting her first child with boyfriend A$AP Rocky. Just some odd months later, the musician-turned-mogul welcomed her baby boy in May.
Since then, the “Diamonds” singer has kept some details about her nine-month-old son private, including his name. However, fans caught a first glimpse of the little one when Rihanna shared the first-ever video of him on TikTok.
Throughout her pregnancy, the Savage X Fenty founder often spoke about becoming a first-time mother, her parenting style, and of course, her rebellious maternity fashion.
As fans react to Rihanna’s pregnancy announcement at the 2023 Super Bowl halftime show, here’s everything she has said about motherhood.
Why Rihanna decided to keep her son’s name private
After welcoming her first child with rapper A$AP Rocky in May 2022, Rihanna explained why they have remained tight-lipped about their son’s name. Really, it was because their busy schedules prevented them from revealing their baby boy’s name to the world.
“We just didn’t get around to it yet, really. We’ve just been living,” she told the Associated Press last November. “But I guess there’s a certain freedom that comes with kind of just like getting it out there.”
Rihanna shares first photos and video of her baby boy
Rihanna delighted fans when she posted a video of her baby boy to her TikTok account in December. In the video, her son is seen sitting in a car seat and playing with Rihanna’s phone.
Two days later, Hollywood Unlocked exclusively obtained and published three photos of the then seven-month-old. In one of the pictures, the baby is wearing a white onesie and has a pacifier, while A$AP Rocky holds him up to the camera in another.
Why she feels finding a work-life balance has been impossible after becoming a mother
Ahead of the Super Bowl, Rihanna recently admitted at a press conference that finding a work-life balance has been “impossible” to achieve following the birth of her son.
“It’s very different,” she said. “The balance is almost impossible, because no matter how you look at it, work is always something that’s going to rob you of time with your child.
“That’s the currency now, and that’s where it goes, the magnitude of how much it weighs. When you make decisions on what you’re going to say yes to, it has to be worth it.”
Her fears about performing at the Super Bowl so soon after giving birth
During this week’s press conference, Rihanna also opened up about her hesitations with taking on the Super Bowl halftime show less than one year after giving birth.
Rihanna recalled the moment she was asked to perform, when she asked herself: “Are you sure? I’m three months postpartum, should I be making major decisions like this right now? I might regret this.”
She added: “But when you become a mom, there’s something that just happens where you feel like you could take on the world, you could do anything… As scary as that was, because I haven’t been on stage in seven years, there’s something exhilarating about the challenge of it all.
“And it’s important for me to do this, this year. It’s important for representation, it’s important for my son to see that.”
Her son is in the “cuddly stage”
Last November, Rihanna gave a rare update about her then six-month-old son.
In an interview with People, Rihanna said: “He is funny, he’s happy – and he’s fat! He’s amazing. It’s a real cuddly stage right now.”
The “weird” thing that she’s noticed about herself since welcoming her son
Since becoming a mother, Rihanna shared how she’s come to realise how similar she is to her own mother, Monica Braithwaite.
“It is weird,” she told E! Newsin November. “Even the little things that annoy me about her, I do it. I literally make all of the same faces. I say the same things. I clear my throat the same way. I move my mouth the same way.
“I either never noticed it or it never happened until I had a baby,” she added.
Why she questioned if she is a “bad mom”
Becoming a first-time mother can be both stressful and anxiety-inducing. In a candid interview with Vogue, Rihanna revealed that she questioned whether she is a “bad mom” because she didn’t want to throw a gender-reveal party for child.
She admitted that the decision made her question herself, so she sought advice from her doctor. “I asked my doctor: Is something wrong with me for not wanting this? Because people keep asking me. Am I a bad mom? When we’re ready to tell the world, we’ll just tell them,” she explained.
Rihanna’s approach to parenting
Two months before welcoming her son, Rihanna explained that she’s been taking parenting tips from an unlikely role model: the Real Housewives.
During her third trimester, Rihanna revealed to Elle which Real Housewives cast member from the Bravo franchise she resonates with the most.
“Heather Dubrow is so chic while being a mom,” she said about the Real Housewives of Orange County cast member. “Just love the way that she just allows her kids to be who they are. And that’s really inspiring to me.”
However, Rihanna said she can see herself being more like Teresa Giudice from the Real Housewives of New Jersey, as she noted: “But Teresa from Jersey does not play about her kids. She will flatten you about those kids, and that resonates with me a lot because I feel like that’s the type of mom I’m going to be. Psycho about it.”
The singer’s “rebellious” maternity style
Since revealing in January 2022 that she was pregnant, the fashion designer stepped out in a number of memorable outfits which showed off her baby-bump. Rihanna rang in a new era of unique maternity style, including belly chains and negligee.
Speaking about her pregnancy fashion, the “Umbrella” singer told Bustle that her goal has been to embrace the opposite of what society has told her. “It’s been me personally saying, I’m not going to buy maternity clothes. I’m not gonna buy maternity pants, jeans, dresses, or [do] whatever society told me to do before,” she said.
The beauty mogul also defined her maternity style as “rebellious” because it challenges the maternity styles she has seen in the past.
“Maybe… rebellious? When I saw women dress during their pregnancy [in the past], I’d think that that was the only way,” she explained. “So I challenged myself to push it further and really just have fun with [maternity style]. Because there’s nothing more fun than a challenge for me. Like that’s where I get creative. That’s where I’m forced to come up with new ideas and new ways to make it work.”
Super Bowl 2023 takes place on Sunday 12 February in Glendale, Arizona, at the State Farm Stadium at 6.30pm ET.
