Why Rihanna waited to reveal pregnancy at Super Bowl 2023

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

Social media went wild during her performance, speculating that the “Umbrella” singer might be pregnant again, and her reps later confirmed that she is indeed expecting baby No. 2.

Rihanna, 34, is allegedly thrilled by the response, and it went how she wanted it to go.

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

“Rihanna wanted to display a message of empowerment and to show that you can balance it all and make your dreams come true,” the source added. “She feels so confident and appreciative in this moment.”

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

Fans first started pondering whether or not she could be expecting a sibling for her nine-month-old son when she appeared to rub her burgeoning belly at the start of the performance.

While Rihanna didn’t make any sort of halftime-show announcement during her set, the speculation did turn out to be true.

Prior to her highly-anticipated halftime show mid-game — which saw the Kansas City Chiefs defeat the Philadelphia Eagles — Rihanna was asked if there would be any surprises, and she teased that she was “thinking about bringing someone.”

At the time, she added that she didn’t want to say too much because then “it wouldn’t be a surprise,” but now people are assuming that the “someone” might have been referring to baby No. 2.

Rihanna welcomed her first child with A$AP Rocky in May 2022 and credited motherhood for being part of the reason she agreed to perform the halftime show.

The couple still have yet to announce their son’s name, but Rihanna did reveal his face in a TikTok posted in December.

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

“When I first got the call to do it again this year, I was like, [hisses] ‘You sure?’ I’m three months postpartum. Should I be making major decisions like this right now? I might regret this,” Rihanna admitted.

“But when you become a mom, there’s something that just happens where you feel like you can take on the world. The Super Bowl is one of the biggest stages in the world, so 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 … It’s important for my son to see that.”