Celebrity pregnancies come and go, but some stay with us more than others. Enter Rihanna, who has consistently kept it real since giving birth to her sons, RZA, who turns two next month, and eight-month old Riot, who she shares with A$AP Rocky.
From proudly displaying her baby bump in iconic outfits to revealing her second pregnancy at the Superbowl and keeping schtum on the name of her firstborn, Rihanna's refreshing attitude to celebrity pregnancy has constantly ripped up the rule book. But amongst it all, Rihanna has also stayed relatable enough to remind us that, even when you've got a 1.4 billion fortune, some parts of the motherhood journey are universal.
She previously told Vogue that the transition to becoming a mum was a 'head f-k' continuing 'Essentially, from one person I became two. You walk into the hospital as a couple and leave as a family of three. It’s nuts. And, oh, my gosh, those first days are insane. You don’t sleep. At all. Not even if you wanted to. We came home, cold turkey, had no one. It was just us as parents and our baby.'
Meanwhile in a 2022 interview with Extra, she spoke about how motherhood was a 'wild' journey. 'It is crazy. It is amazing. … It’s weird. It’s all of those things, all at once,' she said. 'The best feeling, the best. The most love I’ve ever known. I can’t describe it. It’s new. It’s fascinating. Every step, every facial expression, every new milestone. I love it.'
Now, in a new interview with Interview Magazine published this week, Rihanna has opened up about everything from the realities of her postpartum body (cellulite and all) to carrying pacifiers in her bag and changing dirty nappies - and it's got everyone talking. One user wrote on X 'She gives the people what they need! Relatable @rihanna with her former stylist on postpartum, parenting RZA & Riot with A$AP Rocky & their relationship, what’s in her bag, housewives, plastic surgery, cities, worries, friends & fans.'
Read on for our round-up of the ten most relatable parenting quotes from Rihanna's interview.
1. On cellulite…
'Third-trimester cellulite is no joke. You just see ripples coming from places you never knew, and it’s all in your thighs, because your thighs are carrying the weight of your baby and uterus.’
2. On boobs….
‘I want my titties pinned back to my shoulders, right where they used to be. I don’t want implants. I just want a lift.’
3. On getting dressed…
‘It’s more like I spend my time getting the kids dressed to death, and then I’m like, “What’s the most comfortable outfit to wear around them? What’s not going to feel uncomfortable on their face or on their body or make me feel like I can’t hold them properly?"'
4. On children’s clothes…
‘I have racks, I have bags. They’re all sized and organized, and then whatever gets too small for RZA, I put into bins so that Riot can have them next. Riot is actually in all of RZA’s 1-year-old clothes already. He’s only six months. Everybody thinks Rocky dresses them because I dress them in Rocky outfits.’
5. On RZA’s first word….
"Hey."
6. On sharing the nappy changing…
‘Oh, yeah. Rocky has never shied away from it. He does the shirt up over the nose with a stinky diaper. He gets through it. It’s kind of funny.’
7. On what’s in her bag…
‘This is Riot’s rag. This is RZA’s pacifier… And then after I got to Europe, I switched over their stuff to another bag. But when I move, I either keep a rag or a pair of socks or a pacifier, something from them.’
8. On having more kids….
‘As many as god wants me to have…I don’t know what god wants, but I would go for more than two. I would try for my girl. But of course if it’s another boy, it’s another boy.’
9. On her relationship with Rocky...
‘I let god lead and just let go. Because in previous relationships, I tried and tried and tried my best, and you still feel like it’s not enough. So when someone sees you completely, and believes in you, and thinks you’re worthy of being the mother of their kids, it’s a great feeling. I felt the same about him. I knew he would be a great dad.’
10. On nursery rhymes...
'Oh my gosh. There’s “Penguins Salute.” There’s “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.” Oh my gosh. RZA gets really emotional about that... And now he’s really into ‘Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes,’” she added. “’The Wheels on the Bus’ is a favorite from the beginning till now. That’s just a classic. It’s never going out of style.” It really doesn’t!...And oh, the new ‘Incy Wincy Spider,’ because he gets like, ‘Ahh,’ like he thinks I’m going to tickle him when I sing that one. And he has a book about that, so he can put two and two together.'