Keeping it top secret! Serena Williams initially hid her second pregnancy from nearly everyone — including 5-year-old daughter Olympia.
“Olympia does not know right now that I am pregnant, so the big reveal will be at the Met and then before we leave, I’ll tell Olympia,” Williams, 42, revealed in a pre-taped video on Friday, May 5. “The reason I haven’t told her is because she can’t keep a secret!”
The post — which serves as a tease for the tennis superstar’s upcoming YouTube channel — gave a behind-the-scenes look at Williams and husband Alexis Ohanian prepping for the Monday, May 1, event in New York City. One clip seemingly showed footage of the couple delivering the exciting news to their daughter, who smiled while giving Williams a big hug.
In another scene, the athlete tried on a trench coat in an attempt to hide her growing baby bump. “I look like Inspector Gadget,” she quipped.
Ahead of showing off her growing belly on the red carpet at Monday’s fashion soirée, the seven-time Wimbledon champ took to social media to announce the big news.
“Was so excited when Anna Wintour invited the 3 of us to the Met Gala,” she wrote via Instagram alongside multiple photos of her and the Reddit cofounder, 40.
While Williams’ latest baby reveal went according to plan, she hasn’t always been so lucky. In April 2017 — five months before giving birth to her firstborn — the Michigan native accidentally spilled her pregnancy news when she uploaded a photo of her baby bump to Snapchat.
“On social media you press the wrong button and … 30 minutes later I missed 4 calls and I’m like, ‘That’s weird,’” she told Gayle King at a TED conference that same month, explaining the reasoning behind the flub. “I have this thing where I’ve been checking my status and taking pictures every week to see how far along I’m getting. I’ve been so good about it, but this was the one time it slipped.”
Williams has been candid about the ups and downs of motherhood since Olympia’s arrival. In August 2022, she announced she would be retiring from tennis in order to spend more time with her family.
“I’m here to tell you that I’m evolving away from tennis, toward other things that are important to me,” the Being Serena star wrote in an essay for Vogue at the time. “But I’ve been reluctant to admit to myself or anyone else that I have to move on from playing tennis. Alexis, my husband, and I have hardly talked about it; it’s like a taboo topic. I can’t even have this conversation with my mom and dad. It’s like it’s not real until you say it out loud.”
She continued: “Believe me, I never wanted to have to choose between tennis and a family. I don’t think it’s fair. If I were a guy, I wouldn’t be writing this because I’d be out there playing and winning while my wife was doing the physical labor of expanding our family. Maybe I’d be more of a Tom Brady if I had that opportunity.”
Despite having to walk away from the game, Williams has been clear about the joys that parenthood brings.
“Don’t get me wrong: I love being a woman, and I loved every second of being pregnant with Olympia,” she penned in her Vogue essay. “I was one of those annoying women who adored being pregnant and was working until the day I had to report to the hospital.”
