Serena Williams announces pregnancy on Met Gala red carpet
Serena Williams has confirmed she is pregnant with baby number two, telling reporters at the star-studded Met Gala in New York that there were “three of us” on the red carpet, where she arrived with husband Alexis Ohanian.
The 23-times major winner announced last year that she was “evolving away from tennis”, writing in a Vogue magazine article that she wanted to grow her family after welcoming daughter Olympia in 2017.
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“Was so excited when Anna Wintour invited the three of us to the Met Gala,” Williams said in a TikTok post on Monday evening.
Williams, a long-time friend of Anna Wintour, the Vogue editor-in-chief and Met Gala co-chair, is a frequent attendee of the annual event to benefit the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute and on Monday donned a form-fitting black gown with a white skirt.
The theme of this year’s gala was “Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty”, in honour of the late Chanel designer.
Footage from the red carpet showed Ohanian, an entrepreneur and the co-founder of Reddit, gently resting his hand on the midsection of the 41-year-old Williams.
Serena Williams and Alexis Ohanian reveal they are expecting their second child together. #MetGala pic.twitter.com/0F8TNgaBla
— Entertainment Tonight (@etnow) May 2, 2023
The announcement made a return to competitive tennis appear highly unlikely for Williams, one of the most decorated athletes ever to pick up a racket.
Fellow tennis great Roger Federer, in a black tuxedo and dark tortoiseshell sunglasses, and former US Open champion Andy Roddick, in a similar black dinner suit but paired with formal slippers, were among a handful of high-profile athletes in attendance.
American basketball star Brittney Griner, who is back in the US after being detained for nearly 10 months in a Russian penal colony, and China’s twice Olympic champion freestyle skier Eileen Gu were also at the event.