Jessica Biel discusses birth of her ‘secret Covid baby’

Eleven months after welcoming their second child, actress Jessica Biel has revealed why she and Justin Timberlake kept the pregnancy under wraps.

Jessica Biel said she and Justin Timberlake did not plan on keeping the arrival of their second child, Phineas, a “secret”.

In a rare interview about her family, the actress, 39, candidly spoke about welcoming her second child into the world in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic.

“I had, like, a secret Covid baby,” Biel told Dax Shepard on Monday’s episode his Armchair Expert podcast. “It wasn’t like it was supposed to be a secret. It was just Covid happened, and then I went to Montana with my family and never left.”

Jessica Biel gave birth to the couple’s second child 11 months ago. Picture: justintimberlake/Instagram

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Due to visitor restrictions at hospitals across the nation, Biel feared that Timberlake, 40, would not be able to join her in the delivery room.

“There was a moment where there was nobody allowed at all, and I was really getting nervous about that situation,” she said. “But yes, he was allowed. I think if I had to be there alone, that would have been horrible. I would have been really scared.”

And now having two children, Biel told Shepard that the “balance of everything is very different and super hard”.

“Someone said to me, ‘Two is like having a thousand.’ And that’s exactly what it feels like,” she said.

Biel also shared whether or not she wants her sons to follow in their parents’ footsteps.

“My knee-jerk reaction is ‘Oh God, no. Please no,” she said. “But then I look at these kids and I’m like, ‘Oh sh*t, they’re probably going to be musical. What are we going to do? Like, not let them play the piano or not let them take a voice lesson if that’s their passion?’ … I don’t want to be that parent to stifle a dream.”

Jessica Biel and Justin Timberlake are parents to two boys. Picture: Valerie Macon/AFP

Biel gave birth to Phineas in July. She and Timberlake also have six-year-old son, Silas. The news came as a shock to fans, as the star couple managed to keep the pregnancy a total secret.

The couple didn’t confirm the child’s birth until six months later, when Timberlake revealed Phineas’ sex and name on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

“He’s awesome and so cute. Nobody’s sleeping,” he said in January. “But we’re thrilled. We’re thrilled and couldn’t be happier. Very grateful.”

This article originally appeared on Page Six and was reproduced with permission