American actress, singer and performer, Keke Palmer is taking on a new role as she announced she is expecting her first child.
She made the announcement during her opening monologue of the December 3 episode of NBC sketch comedy show, “Saturday Night Live”.
The 29-year-old showed off her baby bump for the first time to address some rumors that had been circulating about her as of late.
“People have been in my comments saying, ‘Keke’s having a baby,’ ‘Keke’s pregnant,'” she said. “And I want to set the record straight: I am.”
She unbuttoned an oversized trench coat to reveal a crop top and a baby bump, garnering a booming round of cheers and applause. Palmer joked that it’s “bad when people spread rumors about you on the internet… but it’s even worse when they’re correct.”
She continued: “I was trying to keep it on the down-low because I’ve got a lot of stuff going on. People coming up to me going ‘congratulations!’ I’m like, ‘shh, can y’all stop? I’ve got a liquor sponsorship on the line. Let the check clear.”
Palmer’s representative Lauren Auslander further confirmed the announcement to USA TODAY.
Palmer’s first acting appearance was in “Akeelah and the Bee” when she was 13.
Since then, she has become a mainstay in the entertainment industry as an actress, singer, comedian and TV host.
“This has been the biggest blessing,” she continued of her pregnancy news. “I’m so excited. I want to be a mom. Even though some people feel a little weird about me being pregnant because I was a child actor, but I’m 29, I’m grown.”
Palmer is hosting “SNL” for the first time, joined by musical guest SZA. It isn’t the first time an “SNL” host has used the platform to announce a pregnancy. In 2018, Cardi B broke the news during her own debut on the show while performing, showing off a baby bump for the first time.
Reports have it she is in a secret relationship with her boyfriend, Darius Jackson.
As per Us Weekly, Keke Palmer and Darius Jackson first met at Sean “Diddy” Combs and Issa Rae’s Memorial Day Party in May 2021.
They kept their relationship under wraps until August of that year, when Jackson made it Instagram official by posting a picture with Palmer. In a now-deleted post, he wrote:
“You’ve been a blessing from above. Never would have expected summer 2021 to turn out the way it did, but here we are. I’m glad we were able to help each other throughout our lowest of times & show one another that what we are bringing to the table is everything that we got.”
Keke Palmer and Darius Jackson don’t post about each other on social media, however, while speaking about her new beau on The Tamron Hall Show, she stated that it became “more difficult to hide.” The Nope star added that she won’t hide something that makes her happy.
Darius has been working in the entertainment and fitness industry for more than six years. As per his LinkedIn profile, he works as an instructor at Inspire Fitness.
Jackson is also the brother of Sarunas Jackson, who starred in Issa Rae’s series Insecure. Keke Palmer also co-starred in that series.