Serena Williams Unveils Pregnancy At Met Gala

Serena Williams might be in the running for Reveal of the Year with what she recently pulled at the M.E.T. Gala.

The iconic tennis player retired from the sport last year with hopes of pursuing other parts of her life, and it seems she has hit the ground running with the expansion of her family. 

Williams surprised her fans when she uploaded photos of herself, her husband Alexis Ohanian, Snr., and her baby bump at the 2023 M.E.T. Gala. In the 5-slide post, the mother-of-one was seen giggling at something her husband said, looking sharp in black attire.

Williams' Gucci gown had a complementing jacket and a tulle train beneath, while Ohanian donned a simple tuxedo. The following four slides show different poses of the retired athlete, with the last slide making her baby bump very apparent. Williams' did an exciting wordplay in the caption that read:

“Was so excited when Anna Wintour invited the 3 of us to the Met Gala.”

It didn't take long before her fans and loved ones flooded the comments section to express their love and congratulatory messages; however, some were blown away by her chosen method of revealing her pregnancy.

Sports journalist and executive Bonnie Bernstein wrote, "Well, THIS is, like, the holy grail of pregnancy announcement flexes, if there ever was one. Congrats Serena and @alexisohanian!!" One person excitedly asked, "Wait a minute… is this an old pic? Are we having a new baby?" while another commenter wrote, "Now that's a reveal! Congrats!"

The soon-to-be father-of-two also joined the celebration with a post on his Twitter page. The internet entrepreneur shared a message that read, "Mama & Papa love this parenting thing, so we're back at it, and @olympiaohanian is going to be the best Big Sister—she's been asking & praying for this for a minute. #MetGala."

Fans and well-wishers also camped in the replies with congratulatory messages to the happy family.

As fans might recall, the 41-year-old took the world by storm last August when she announced her retirement from Tennis. The 23-time Grand Slam champion, who described her retirement from Tennis as a "painful evolution," spoke about the events that led to her decision to leave the sport.

In an essay for Vogue, she recalled overhearing her daughter Olympia expressing her desire to be a big sister. Explaining further, Williams said:

“Olympia says this a lot, even when she knows I’m listening. Sometimes before bed, she prays to Jehovah to bring her a baby sister. (She doesn’t want anything to do with a boy!) I’m the youngest of five sisters myself, and my sisters are my heroes, so this has felt like a moment I need to listen very carefully to.”

Although granting her baby girl's wish seemed a top priority, Williams got candid about choosing between her career and family, describing it as "unfair." In her words:

“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.”

Williams compared her career to football G.O.A.T., Tom Brady, to drive home the sacrifices she has to make as a woman. She, however, insisted on her love for being a woman and her first pregnancy, adding:

“I was one of those annoying women who adored being pregnant and was working until the day I had to report to the hospital—although things got super complicated on the other side.”

Nevertheless, Williams revealed that she had to choose family over sport due to her age. "Many people don't realize I was two months pregnant when I won the Australian Open in 2017. But I'm turning 41 this month, and something's got to give," she explained.