Why Rihanna waited to reveal pregnancy at Super Bowl 2023

celebrities

From Brooke Steinberg

February 13, 2023 | 8:03 a.m

Rihanna took to the stage for the Super Bowl 2023 halftime show last night for the first time in seven years and gave her fans a little surprise.

Social media went wild during her performance, speculating that the “Umbrella” singer could be pregnant again, and her reps later confirmed that she is indeed expecting baby #2.

Rihanna, 34, is reportedly delighted with the response and it went the way she wanted it to.

“She knows it was a performance to remember and that’s what she wanted. She loves that the performance was also such an exciting announcement for her and her family,” a source told Entertainment Tonight.

“Rihanna wanted to convey a message of empowerment and show that you can balance anything and make your dreams come true,” the source added. “She feels so confident and grateful in that moment.”

During her 13-minute set, RiRi performed some of her biggest hits, starting with “Bitch Better Have My Money,” followed by a jam-packed setlist of songs like “Work,” “Diamonds,” “Only Girl (In the World),” ” We Found Love”, “Rude Boy” and “Pour It Up” – all with a baby bump.

Fans first began to wonder if she might be expecting a sibling for her nine-month-old son when she appeared to be rubbing her bulging belly early in the performance.

While Rihanna didn’t make a halftime show announcement during her set, the speculation turned out to be true.

Ahead of her much-anticipated mid-game halftime show — in which the Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Philadelphia Eagles — Rihanna was asked if there would be any surprises, and teased her that she was “thinking of bringing someone along”.

At the time, she added that she didn’t want to say too much because then it “won’t be a surprise,” but now people assume the “someone” may have been referring to baby #2.

Rihanna welcomed her first child with A$AP Rocky in May 2022 and cited motherhood as one of the reasons she agreed to perform the halftime show.

The couple has yet to announce their son’s name, but Rihanna revealed his face in a TikTok posted in December.

The singer said she believes the timing of the halftime show “could only have been now” for her.

“When I first got the call to do it again this year, I thought, [hisses] ‘Secure?’ I am three months postpartum. Should I make such important decisions now? I might regret that,” Rihanna admitted.

“But when you become a mom, something just happens that makes you feel like you can take on the world. The Super Bowl is one of the biggest stages in the world and as scary as it was because I haven’t been on stage in seven years, there’s something exciting about the challenge… It’s important for my son to see that. ”