- Rihanna's Super Bowl backup dancers didn't know she was pregnant.
- Dancer Laila Hayes told "Entertainment Tonight:" "She hid it very well."
Rihanna's Super Bowl backup dancers didn't know she was pregnant at the time of her performance.
That's according to dancers Luhnyae Campbell and Laila Hayes, who told "Entertainment Tonight" on Wednesday that the "Umbrella" singer kept her baby bump concealed during rehearsals.
"I don't think anybody really knew she was pregnant," Hayes said. "She hid it very well."
Rihanna wore an unzipped red jumpsuit during her spectacular halftime performance on Sunday, displaying a clear baby bump that she appeared to caress throughout.
A representative for the singer confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter later the same day that the 34-year-old singer is pregnant.
"We were all confused watching it during the real thing when she went up there and was showing her stomach," Hayes added. "She wore the same outfit for one of the dress rehearsals but it was zippered up."
Campbell said: "I never saw a bump. Not even the day of. I had to rewatch the performance on YouTube to realize."
Rihanna's backup dancers weren't the only people the singer kept her pregnancy a secret from.
She also kept her stylist Jahleel Weaver in the dark.
Weaver, who has worked with Rihanna since 2011, told Vogue that the star didn't share the news about her pregnancy until three weeks before the Super Bowl.
"She finally told me when we were reviewing sketches, and I was like, 'Is this a joke?'" he said, adding that he was "constantly" having to adjust her outfit because of the "growth of her body."
"In a week, she grows. So her body would be completely different from the week before," he said. "We landed on this idea of how to show the body, but also have the flexibility for movement."
Rihanna's pregnancy news comes after she and her partner, rapper A$AP Rocky, welcomed their first child, a son, in May 2022. The couple has not yet revealed the child's name.
Prior to her appearance at Sunday's Super Bowl, which was her first live performance in over five years, Rihanna spoke to CBS presenter Nate Burleson on the first episode of his podcast, "The Process with Nate Burleson."
During the podcast, the singer revealed that there would be a surprise guest during her performance.
"I'm thinking about bringing someone, I'm not sure. We'll see," she said.