How Rihanna Kept Her Pregnancy a Secret Until She Hit the Stage at the Super Bowl Halftime Show
Rihanna surprised the world when she took the stage at the Super Bowl LVII halftime show with a noticeable baby bump underneath her clothes. Representatives for the singer confirmed after the show that she is indeed pregnant with her second child, less than a year after giving birth to her first. But even those closest to Rihanna in the weeks leading up to the Super Bowl were unaware that Rih had a bun in the oven.
Rihanna revealed her pregnancy at the Super Bowl halftime show
The Super Bowl LVII halftime show opened with a close-up of Rihanna staring into the camera. As the camera panned out to show Rih standing on a platform high above the field at Glendale, Arizona’s State Farm Stadium, her stomach pushed open her red jumpsuit. After the show, the “Pon de Replay” singer was confirmed to be pregnant.
Rihanna’s performance at the Super Bowl marked the first time ever that a pregnant person has taken the stage at the halftime show. She gave birth to her first child, a son with A$AP Rocky, in May 2022.
Rihanna kept her pregnancy a secret from her dancers
A growing baby bump is hard to conceal, but Rihanna did all she could to keep her big news a secret until she took the stage at the halftime show.
Show director Hamish Hamilton told Entertainment Tonight about the efforts to conceal the news until it was time for the big stage. “She was very careful about who knew. And we only knew, really, at the very latest stages,” Hamilton said. “Her and her team carefully managed that, and we obviously also then carefully managed that.”
“It’s a very, very personal, joyous moment. So it’s for her to tell the world, you know?” he continued. “So not only were we obviously very mindful of the fact that she was pregnant, but we’re also very mindful of this kind of a show hasn’t been done before either.”
“There was a huge amount of respect for the endeavor that we were taking on,” Hamilton added. “I think, given the ambition of the idea, the kind of lunacy, almost, in some ways, of the idea, I think anybody who was going to kind of tell the world was like, ‘You know what? Let me keep the secret.’”
According to Rolling Stone, some dancers weren’t aware of her pregnancy until showtime, as she rehearsed in baggy clothes. Some didn’t even find out until they watched the show back later.
Rihanna’s father found out she was pregnant during the halftime show
Rihanna’s dancers weren’t the only ones who were in the dark about her second pregnancy. The singer’s father Ronald Fenty was in attendance at State Farm Stadium and noticed something was different about his daughter when she appeared on the floating platform. “‘Oh my god! My baby girl looks pregnant!'” he told his partner, recounting the story to TMZ.
Fenty told Page Six last year that he found out the news of her first pregnancy just hours before the rest of the world did. “I just got the news from her last night, and she sent me some photos,” he said. “I’m just over the moon. She’s beautiful inside and out.”
“Rihanna always said that she wanted children; she loves kids,” he added. “She always takes care of her cousins’ kids … She’s going to be a good mom.”
