Serena Williams Reveals she Accidentally Announced her Pregnancy on Social Media

Serena Williams, 35, who broke the Internet last week after she revealed she was 20 weeks pregnant with a photo she posted on her Snapchat (read here), has revealed that she accidentally announced her pregnancy.

The world number one Tennis star was speaking to Gayle King at a Ted Talks  event in Vancouver when she revealed that she had intended the photo in a yellow one-piece swimsuit to be a private photo – but she accidentally posted it to the world.

”Well, actually it was an accident. I was on vacation just taking some time for myself and I have this thing where I’ve been checking my status and taking pictures every week to see how far along I’m going,” Williams said.

”I didn’t tell a lot of people to be quite honest and I’d been saving it. On social media, you press the wrong button and… Thirty minutes later I missed four calls and I’m like, ‘That’s weird.’ But it was a good moment. I was only going to wait five or six more days [to share].”

Williams, who is due to give birth in Autumn, said she discovered she was pregnant just two days before the Australian Open in January, BBC reports.

“I had to really take all that energy and put it in a paper bag, so to say, and throw it away. Pregnant or not, no-one knew and I was supposed to win that tournament. Every time I play, I’m expected to win. If I don’t win, it’s actually much bigger news.”

Williams will not play tennis again this year, but says she intends to return to the court in 2018. She also discussed what it’s like to play her sister Venus, who she beat in the final of the Australian Open.

”I definitely plan on coming back. I’m not done yet,” said Williams, who credited 36-year-old sister, Venus for inspiration.

“Playing Venus is like playing myself – she is my toughest opponent,” she said.

“If she’s still playing, I know I can play. This [motherhood] is just a new part of my life. My baby’s going to be in the stands, hopefully cheering for me and not crying too much.”

Williams announced her engagement to tech entrepreneur, Alexis Ohanian, who co-founded the website Reddit, in December (read here).

The news of Williams’ pregnancy has caused a lot of controversy this week after Romanian Fed Cup captain and former world number one, Ilie Nastase was overheard saying “Let’s see what colour it has. Chocolate with milk?”.

Responding to the controversy, Williams said:

“It disappoints me to know we live in a society where people like Ilie Nastase can make such racist comments towards myself and my unborn child”.

The baby will be Williams’ first child with Ohanian, 33.

Photo credit: Snpchat/Getty/Ryan Lash/TED