Rihanna’s backup dancers during her electric Super Bowl halftime show performance said they weren’t aware of the pending pregnancy announcement.
Luhnyae Campbell and Laila Hayes, among the 280 dancers who joined the “Work” singer on the halftime stage in Arizona, told “Entertainment Tonight” that they and other dancers didn’t spot Rihanna’s belly during rehearsals.
“I never saw a bump, not even the day of. I had to rewatch the performance on YouTube to realize,” Campbell said.
“We were all confused watching it during the real thing when she went up there and was showing her stomach,” Hayes said. “She wore the same outfit for one of the dress rehearsals but it was zippered up.”
Campbell, in a TikTok video, shared that Rhi wore “big fur coats” or Fenty sweatsuits during rehearsals.
“I was surprised, too,” she said.
Campbell and Hayes rehearsed for two weeks, according to “Entertainment Tonight,” and Rihanna — although separated from a larger group of dancers — joined the dancers in the week prior to the Super Bowl.
Hayes told the outlet that the singer wore the sweatsuits “without causing any suspicion” due to the cold weather.
A representative for Rihanna confirmed earlier that she performed pregnant during the halftime show.
The singer, who join boyfriend A$AP Rocky and her son on the cover of British Vogue’s March 2023 issue, told the publication she had no idea she’d be pregnant with their second child during the big game.
“It was almost like an out-of-body experience,” she said of her halftime show announcement last year.
“I have not been on stage in seven years, Seven years! From zero to Super Bowl? That’s mental.”