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Between the paparazzi snapping photos of them and Nicki Swift divulging their dirt, big Hollywood names don’t have many places to hide. When the public finds out they were pregnant nine months too late, it has all of us wondering if we’ve been living under a rock or something. After all, hiding a high profile pregnancy can be tough stuff. Who knew that these performers were parents?
Some celebrities are surprisingly good at keeping their lives low key. Actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt married in secret, so it makes sense that he had his son in secret, too. “It wasn’t that difficult because we didn’t tell many people about it,” he told Playboy (via ET). “As much as some people may disagree, I don’t believe a person’s private life — even a person in entertainment — is a public performance.” While celebrity parents may have signed up for a private life in the spotlight, their little ones sure didn’t. It makes sense why they want these baby bumps to be top secret.
Since their moms and dads are certainly not dishing out the details, we did a dip dive to see if we ever actually saw these kids coming. Here are some stories of celebs who had babies in secret.
Kylie Jenner and Travis Scott’s secret baby blew up social media
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For being a mother who’s made her mark on reality television, Kylie Jenner shocked us all when she revealed that she had successfully hidden her pregnancy from the public. Because of that, the biggest celebrity story of 2018 had to be the birth of little Stormi Webster.
Rumors had been running rampant that the young billionaire was hiding a baby bump, but no one was able to confirm the theory that she was expecting rapper Travis Scott’s tot — until three days after she had given birth. “I’m sorry for keeping you all in the dark through all the assumptions,” Jenner tweeted, adding, “I appreciate my friends and especially my family for helping me make this special moment as private as we could.”
In fact, Jenner’s Instagram announcement revealing the little one’s named broke records for the most-liked photo fans were seeing on their phones (via Variety). After all, this Keeping Up with the Kardashians star had been keeping us on the edge of our seats. Famed momager Kris Jenner was even unable to fathom the fact that nobody had slipped the news for nine months. “Can you believe that Kylie got out of the hospital with not one report?” She said in an episode that aired shortly after.
Jenner’s baby is certainly not a secret anymore, as we’ve all seen her sweet face countless times on Instagram.
Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel had a second son while self-isolating
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As soon as the coronavirus pandemic began, it seemed like the world was full of bad news — until it was revealed that Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel had given birth to a baby. Reports surfaced that their second son had been born in early July 2020 while the celebrity couple was tucked away in the mountains of Montana (via Daily Mail). For such a high-profile couple, it was the perfect time for a private pregnancy considering no one was out and about throughout the stay-at-home order.
The news of their newest addition immediately shocked social media and sent us all stalking Biel’s social media pages a second time for a bump we had passed by. No one had the slightest hunch that Biel had even been pregnant, because she had never shared a photo of anything other than her face. Biel and Timberlake have never publicly announced their newest addition either, so all eyes were on former *NSYNC member Lance Bass who spilled the beans two months later to ET. As for the little guy’s name, well, “that’s a good question,” Bass said. “Justin would kill me!”
Considering this celebrity couple rarely shares their first son Silas’ face on social media, the world may have to wait quite a while before we find out the newest Timberlake’s name. Welcome to the world, whoever you are.
Iggy Azalea and Playboi Carti have a secret son they had to share
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Iggy Azalea has apparently been flying too far under the radar in recent years. She decided to announce in June 2020 that she was a parent — and had been for some time. “I have a son,” she revealed on an Instagram story (via Vulture). “I kept waiting for the right time to say something but it feels like the more time passes the more I realize I’m always going to feel anxious to share news that giant with the world.” Who knew?
Aside from the speculations that had surfaced a few months prior from Hollywood Unlocked, no one seemed to acknowledge the pop star’s supposed pregnancy. In fact, to this day, no one knows exactly when he was even born. The only thing we do know is his name, which she took to the ‘gram to reveal a month later. Though we couldn’t see the little guy, Onyx was heard in an audio recording. Azalea has since deleted the post (via Billboard). “I want to keep his life private but wanted to make it clear he is not a secret & I love him beyond words,” Azalea wrote.
Clearly, it’s no surprise that this pop star likes to keep her personal life very private. Azalea has still never shared the news of her engagement to rapper Playboi Carti, which happened back in 2019. The only announcement the world seemed to receive was a massive rock on her ring finger.
Leighton Meester and Adam Brody just want us to let them be
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For starring on the teen television series Gossip Girl, Leighton Meester sure hates being a part of any gossip herself. Unfortunately for her, she and her husband Adam Brody were the talk of the town when it was revealed that she had given birth — and none of us were in the know. However, we all probably should have expected that they were expecting. After all, the two tied in the knot in secret, so why would they tie us into their parenthood plans?
In September 2015, it was reported that they had become parents to a little girl called Arlo. The couple was extremely cautious about giving out any deets on their daughter. “I don’t talk about Arlo very much,” Meester even admitted to Refinery29, and she left it at that. Unfortunately, that sent the media into doing some digging. Funny enough, TMZ went as far as acquiring the little lady’s birth certificate to obtain the information that this duo wasn’t giving us. It turns out that Arlo was born weeks before the world even caught wind that the two were parents.
The second time around in September 2020, Brody was a bit more open about their newest addition. “I have a new kid. I have a boy,” he announced as he was gaming on Twitch. “He’s a dream, he’s a dream boy.” It saved us all the trouble of digging up the deets.
Rashida Jones and Ezra Kroenig hid their baby bump right in plain sight
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In September 2018, Us Weekly exclusively broke the exciting news that actress Rashida Jones and her beau Ezra Kroening had welcomed a baby boy — months ago. It may have been old news for the two of them, but it was pretty surprising news for us all who never even knew she was pregnant.
What’s really shocking is the fact that Jones hit up many red carpet events leading up to giving birth. The well-known Parks and Recreation actress wore big blazers, and nobody seemed to suspect that there was a baby bump under there (via Nine). “I am pretty fierce about my privacy,” she said in an interview with Net-a-Porter while she was secretly pregnant. “I have made career choices to protect it.” The actress took her voice to animated films the following year, so it seems safe to say that her secret son has some age-appropriate stuff to see his mom in now.
Alexis Bledel and Vincent Kartheiser’s new addition is old news
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Many of us gathered around our television screens to watch actress Alexis Bledel grow up on Gilmore Girls. When news broke of a revival series in 2016, not only were we all giddy over that, but co-star Scott Patterson gave away that Bledel had become a parent the previous year. “It was great to see her,” he told Glamour, adding, “We’re comparing notes because my son is about a year and a half older than her young son.” Following the revealing reunion interview, People was quickly able to confirm that Bledel and her husband Vincent Kartheiser had indeed welcomed a son into the world.
While Bledel’s pregnancy may not have been so obvious since she’s stepped a bit out of the spotlight, don’t expect to see her much more on the small screen anytime soon. She’s become even pickier about jobs since becoming a parent. “I just think about what roles I take on, and make sure that it’s really something that I feel passionate about if I’m going to leave home and go work,” she admitted to ET, which we can only assume now is because of her small son.
Unfortunately, nobody knows anything more about her unnamed son than that. However, judging by the looks of his celebrity parents, we’d have to guess that he’s probably pretty cute.
Isla Fisher and Sacha Baron Cohen gave us so many signs
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If you want to talk about a top-secret baby bump, it’s actress Isla Fisher who successfully concealed one from her co-stars while filming. When Fisher was pregnant with her second child in 2010, everybody should have seen the signs. She was suffering from morning sickness and was constantly running offset while shooting Burke and Hare. Still, nobody assumed anything. The director didn’t even know. Because of this, they assigned Fisher a costume that was quite controversial. The period piece required a corset for her character, so she had to take a massive risk in order to make it work. “I used to pretend I was wearing a corset and then not wear it, just wear a push up bra,” she later admitted during the film’s premiere (via the Evening Standard). “Don’t tell the director that.”
As Fisher is married to the famous Sacha Baron Cohen, it’s surprising that this secret slipped us by. The world finally found out when they were seen walking around in a park as a family of four (via E! News).
Though they tried to keep their other two pregnancies a secret too, the paparazzi quickly caught on. Photos of her baby bump have surfaced for all the world to see. “We are used to everyone sharing everything that I’ve become an interesting news story for keeping a secret,” Fisher later told the Today show.
Kristen Wiig and Avi Rothman have top secret twins
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When it was revealed in June 2020 that comedian Kristen Wiig had welcomed a new addition into the world — sometime earlier in the year — we were all surprised since we never saw it coming. To make it even more shocking, Wiig had two of them. That’s right. She had twins (via People).
Wiig even explicitly mentioned it to millions of us the month prior during the Mother’s Day special of Saturday Night Live. “I’m so thankful for all the things [my mom]’s taught me, like preparing to be a mom myself,” she said in her monologue. How did we miss this?
Up until then, no one had known that Wiig was struggling. For three years, she had gone through IVF treatments alongside her fiancé Avi Rothman, which was “probably the most difficult time in my life,” she admitted to InStyle. This motivated mom-to-be turned to surrogacy, which can make having a secret baby even easier if you’re an actress that’s constantly in the spotlight. “We tried to keep the [surrogacy] process private for as long as possible, because it is a very private thing,” she said. “Unfortunately, we were photographed with them — and, well, it’s out there.” The only thing that’s not out there quite yet are the little ones’ names, which Wiig doesn’t seem willing to share with the world, at the time of this writing.
Billie Lourd and Austen Rydell blew us away with a birth announcement
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The world received some of the most surprising news in the galaxy in September 2020: Billie Lourd had a baby! Her baby boy became Instagram official when his itsy bitsy feet made their debut in a blue blanket. “Introducing: Kingston Fisher Lourd Rydell,” Lourd wrote. The actress never even announced she was expecting with fiancé Austen Rydell. Clearly, this couple kept things pretty confidential. Many of her famous friends were just as shocked as we were. “WAIT WHAT???” was actress Jamie Lee Curtis’ response, while actor Cody Fern seemed simply impressed. “The sneak attack,” he commented on her post.
Though we don’t know anything else about Lourd’s newest addition, it’s obvious that he was named after someone special. His middle name comes from her own mother, the late Carrie Fisher, who is well known for playing Star Wars’ Princess Leia.
In November 2019, a few months before Lourd even found out she was expecting, she penned a personal essay for Time talking about her experience working on the Star Wars set with her mom. Though filming a sequel without Fisher is painful for her, there’s another special person that she’d love to do it for now. “For my future kids, so someday they’ll have one more movie to watch that Mommy and Grandma were in together,” Lourd revealed — which is just another clue we never paid attention to!
Ellen Pompeo and Chris Ivery had their second baby via a secret surrogate
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Grey’s Anatomy actress Ellen Pompeo kept her second baby a secret from the world for two whole months in 2014. “Pretty good, right?” She responded proudly on Jimmy Kimmel Live!. Pompeo has always remained a pretty private person, so when she announced her newest arrival, Sienna May, people were questioning if the actress was ever actually pregnant. It turns out that there was a personal reason for keeping it top secret. “I felt an obligation to keep the surrogate’s privacy,” she told Kimmel.
Between spoilers for Grey’s Anatomy and her own personal surrogacy, Pompeo has proved she’s great at keeping secrets. “I’ve done it before. The covert thing is kind of fun,” she admitted. She was referring to a magical moment seven years before Sienna May’s birth: Pompeo and record producer Chris Ivery had tied the knot without anyone knowing at NYC’s town hall (via Live with Kelly and Ryan). You’d think, at this point, the media would have known to pay more attention to one of the wealthiest women on television.
Though Pompeo’s sense of privacy is now long gone, her surrogate’s is one that she says will always remain a secret. Pompeo owes her everything. “This is an incredible thing to do with your life, to give the gift of carrying someone’s child,” she said. “So, I’m forever grateful.”
Cameron Diaz and Benji Madden rang in the new year with a new addition
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Cameron Diaz has slid out of the spotlight for years, but when 2020 began, we were finally filled in on something in the star’s life. “We are so happy, blessed and grateful to begin this new decade by announcing the birth of our daughter, Raddix Madden,” she and her husband Benji Madden wrote on Instagram. What a way to ring in the new year!
This What to Expect When You’re Expecting star has always made comments about having a family of her own, but, unfortunately, it hasn’t come easily for her and her husband. Back in 2018, an unnamed source told Us Weekly that she had been going through IVF treatments. “They don’t know exactly what it will look like, whether it will be natural or through adoption or surrogacy, but they aren’t giving up,” the friend reportedly revealed about the aspiring parents.
This led many fans to believe that the star had turned to surrogacy — that and the fact that she was photographed looking pretty slim two months beforehand (via The Sun). However, it seems we’ll never know for sure. Diaz certainly won’t be divulging any more deets. “While we are overjoyed to share this news, we also feel a strong instinct to protect our little one’s privacy,” she posted on Instagram. “So we won’t be posting pictures or sharing anymore details, other than the fact that she is really really cute!!” Well, obviously!
