Paloma Faith is pregnant

Paloma Faith is pregnant. The 'Picking Up The Pieces' hitmaker has revealed she's expecting her first child with her long-term boyfriend Leyman Lahcine and is planning to take some time off in order to focus on her journey into motherhood. Writing on her blog on Monday (22.08.16), she said: "I am so delighted to tell you I am going to take a short while off to have a baby. I have spent my whole life wanting to be a mother and now the time has come for me to so I feel so lucky." And, although she's spent a large proportion of her latter life in the public eye, the flame-haired beauty is adamant she wants to keep her unborn child away from the spotlight. She explained: "I hope that you will respect my new family with our privacy in a time which should be calm and without anxiety. I really do not want this child to be in the public eye as it won't have chosen to and I hope everyone can understand that." The 35-year-old singer has also asked her fans not to criticise her pregnancy body as she doesn't want the added stress. She said: "I am nervous and excited about being a mum and just need to be normal and low key for a while. "Pregnancy and motherhood is a very personal thing: daunting, new and worrying at times and I don't want to add to it by having to 'look' a certain way when pregnant or be photographed pregnant of with my child. "I wasn't raised like that and I don't want my child to be. I want the baby to have the freedom of a normal life." Meanwhile, although she's taking some time off to focus on her unborn baby - whose due date remains a mystery - Paloma is adamant she'll return "full of energy" next year. She said: "I am grateful for your understanding and promise to return fully fledged when I have this moment of solitude and new life. I am beyond happy about it."