Jessica Biel opens up about her ‘secret Covid baby’

‘It wasn’t like it was supposed to be a secret,’ says actor

Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel pose for portrait at the Premiere of USA Network’s “The Sinner” Season 3 on 3 February 2020 in West Hollywood (Getty Images)

Jessica Biel and Justin Timberlake didn’t mean to have a “secret Covid baby”, the actor has revealed.

Speaking to Dax Shepard on his podcast Armchair Expert, Biel opened up about being pregnant during the coronavirus pandemic.

She said she was “nervous” about giving birth in hospital when restrictions were introduced that would have barred anyone from being in the delivery room with her.

Biel, who now has two sons with Timberlake, gave birth to her second son Phineas 11 months ago.

She told Shepard: “I had, like, a secret Covid baby. 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.”

The 39-year-old added: “Hospital restrictions had just changed and there was a moment there that there was nobody allowed at all and I was really getting nervous about that situation.”

In the end, Timberlake was allowed to be present for the birth.

“I think if I had to be there alone, that would have been horrible. I would have been really scared,” Biel admitted.

The couple married in 2012 and have an older six-year-old son named Silas.

Biel also spoke about having a newborn again after several years and said having a second child made “the balance of everything… very different”.

“I forgot what happens to you as a person, as a human, with your partner, with your sleep schedule… I’m happy we’re 11 months in because it was serious. You forget on purpose.

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

However, being a family of four is “amazing”, she said, describing her oldest son Silas as a “sensitive and tender” person who says “the funniest stuff”.