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It has been the worst-kept social-media secret for weeks.
On Thursday night every girl’s phone in the country pinged with the same message: ‘We knew it!’
Molly-Mae Hague had announced on Instagram that she was six months pregnant with her Love Island boyfriend, Tommy Fury, with what will be their second child.
In an obvious attempt to keep it ‘low-key’ - the current celebrity trend - she released a grainy black-and-white ‘home video’ shot in January on her camcorder, revealing a burgeoning baby bump.
Wearing a white crop top hoisted over her stomach, the 26-year-old walked down the stairs of the £5million Cheshire mansion the couple share, holding on to their daughter Bambi’s hand.
The three-year-old sported a sweet matching knitted set with the words ‘Big Sister’ scrawled across the chest.
The video cuts to Tommy, 26, cradling Molly’s stomach as she films them in the mirror.
Molly-Mae Hague and Tommy Fury have announced they are expecting their second child
It makes a marked difference from her first pregnancy announcement in 2022, which was professionally filmed, with the pair standing on the edge of a lake as the boxer - brother of former world champion Tyson - kissed her bump.
Back then, the video began with a clip from their Love Island days in 2019 in which she declared, ‘I can’t wait for the adventures that we haven’t even dreamed of yet’.
A gushing caption followed, alongside a slow-motion video of the pair by the lake. Less than 24 hours later she posted pictures of a professional photoshoot.
Four years later and the expectant mother simply penned: ‘Soon to be four’.
Much as she might like you to believe it, however, nothing about this pregnancy has been - or will be - ‘low-key’.
It all started with months of speculation and the release of videos piquing fans’ curiosity.
As an influencer and YouTube star, Molly-Mae shares everything with her 14million followers and preaches ‘realness’.
But as far back as December, her army of avid fans noticed something was amiss when she began only filming herself from the shoulders up in her weekly 45-minute-long ‘vlogs’ on YouTube. Immediately the rumour mill began to turn.
In the same month, the star hinted again at her secret pregnancy when she filmed herself returning home to cake and flowers from Tommy.
But it was the inscription on the cream icing that had everyone talking. It read: ‘New Chapter, Same Us’.
Then a lavish New Year’s trip to the Maldives in January with Tommy and Bambi further encouraged online chatter after the appearance of a slight bump in some shots of her holiday vlog.
The clues kept coming - loyal fans will know that when the Love Island star was pregnant with Bambi, she spoke endlessly about her obsession with peppermint tea, despite being an avid coffee drinker.
So, when Molly-Mae posted a picture to Instagram of herself pouring a cup of herbal tea with a coat wrapped around her on January 25, fans were quick to comment: ‘She wants us to know’.
The real confirmation, however, came last week when, during another video filmed from her kitchen, eagle-eyed fans caught a glimpse of a prominent bump in the reflection of a darkened window.
It’s no secret that Molly-Mae is a PR machine and knows exactly how to fan the flames of speculation, attracting viewers to watch her YouTube channel, where she flogs paid partnerships with brands such as L’Oreal.
The influencer dropped just the right number of hints to keep her viewers coming back for more glimpses of the rumoured bump.
Industry sources have told me that Amazon bosses are ‘frustrated’ to have missed out on the pregnancy announcement in the second season of her documentary series, Behind It All.
Filming for the series revolved around Molly-Mae walking in a L’Oreal Paris show in the French capital late last year, and the influencer revealed on her Instagram today that she had been pregnant during the show.
A source close to the series tells me: ‘It was frustrating she didn’t decide to announce it on the show as it would have been a way better storyline to round the series off with.
The couple's daughter Bambi is seen in the announcement video wearing a jumper reading: 'Big sister'
Molly-Mae is seen forming a heart shape around her stomach in the video which she shared to reveal her pregnancy
Molly-Mae and Tommy are seen with Bambi in their pregnancy announcement captioned: 'Soon to be four'
‘But she wanted to save it for herself - you can’t blame her, it’s a massive deal for her and she’ll get months of content off the back of it.
‘It’s a content jackpot and everyone is chomping at the bit to get round and start filming as a pregnancy storyline is a sure money-maker.’
It appears that, with one single Instagram post, the influencer has no doubt just confirmed another lucrative series with Amazon.
And the timeline of her announcement is no accident.
In fact, I am told she was so desperate to keep her pregnancy a secret that she had everyone on a recent fashion shoot sign NDAs about her condition.
A source from the set revealed: ‘We thought we were all signing NDAs because she was going to pull a Kylie Jenner and not announce her pregnancy until she actually gave birth.’
When pregnant with her daughter Stormi, the 28-year-old hid away from the spotlight for months and only announced the child’s existence three days after she had given birth.
My source added: ‘I was quite surprised when Molly suddenly announced it after all the fuss she went to with the NDAs, but then at the same time her income relies on social media likes so she was never not going to cash in on this pregnancy by putting it on her socials.’
Molly-Mae's gender reveal announcement during her pregnancy with her daughter Bambi
But it turned out to be the person closest to Molly-Mae who threatened to expose her secret and thereby ruin her carefully curated timeline.
Sitting in a Cheshire pub with his father, John, and older brother Tyson Fury, in November, Tommy was reportedly ‘shouting’ about how he was going to be a new father.
Onlookers at the time said: ‘They were clearly celebrating some kind of milestone.
‘Tommy had invited his dad and brother there to share something special with him.’
The couple, who shot to fame on Love Island, have had their differences when it comes to the sportsman’s drinking habits, which they blame for driving a wedge between them, leading to their highly publicised ‘split’ two years ago.
But it appears they have put the past behind them and, after rekindling their romance last year, the couple have been putting on ‘loved-up’ displays for their fans on social media.
She even had her £600,000 diamond engagement ring back on when they were spotted for the first time since the pregnancy announcement earlier today.
Wrapped up in a black overcoat, Molly-Mae hid her baby bump as they got a coffee near their home in Cheshire.
But she certainly wasn’t concealing the ring, which the star has started to wear occasionally after declaring on her Amazon docuseries: ‘I feel we are in a place where I want to wear it again, and we are fully back together and that’s a symbol of that.’
Let’s hope, for everyone’s sake, this time it lasts.
English (US) ·