Why Pregnant Shay Mitchell Is 'More Confident Than' She 'Ever Was' in a Bikini Now
Shay Mitchell couldn’t be prouder of her pregnancy curves.
The You star, 32, chatted exclusively with PEOPLE on Saturday in Cuixmala, Mexico, at a beach-party launch event for her Shaycation x REVOLVE summer capsule collection, where she dished on all things pregnancy as she and boyfriend Matte Babel prepare to welcome their first child together: a baby girl.
“To be honest, more than in my entire life, being in a bikini at this point [in my pregnancy] makes me feel more confident than I ever was before,” said Mitchell, who showed off her baby bump in a neon-yellow bikini consisting of her collection’s Sunnie Top ($78) and matching Sunnie Bottom ($68).
“I don’t really have to suck it in. I can’t suck it in,” the actress explains. “So you get what you get.”
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Whether she’s wearing a swimsuit or anything else, the Pretty Little Liars alum makes sure one big checkbox is ticked nowadays: comfort.
“I have some maternity-wear pants that I absolutely love and wouldn’t be able to do without. All of my jeans are maternity and from maternity stores,” she tells PEOPLE. “I think you can also get away with wearing normal clothes you would be wearing every day just in bigger sizes. You make it work.”
“I haven’t changed my style because I’m pregnant,” Mitchell reveals. “I wear all of the same stuff. I curated this collection before I was pregnant. I feel empowered dressing my bump. When I was hiding it, it was very difficult.”
The mom-to-be — who has taken to “load[ing] up on Cheetos,” her pregnancy snack of choice, even during her sojourn in Mexico — also tells PEOPLE she and Babel, 38, had “no idea” their baby on the way was a girl until their creative reveal, featuring Power Rangers.
“Some people thought that I knew and I was like, ‘No, absolutely not,’ ” she says. “My assistant kept [it a secret] until she told [the Power Rangers] right before they came out. We thought we were having a boy.”
The parents-to-be have bought just three outfits for their daughter on the way — but rest assured she will “have a great wardrobe” when she arrives.
“I will go ham when I meet her,” Mitchell admits. “Monica [Rose, Mitchell’s stylist] will style her. It’ll be amazing. It’ll be fun twinning the whole time until she can tell me no.”
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Mitchell, who previously suffered a miscarriage in 2018, celebrated her pregnancy announcement on YouTube late last month with a vlog titled “Guess Who’s Preggers.”
She wrote in the 2-minute video’s description, “It’s exciting, nerve-racking, difficult and emotional all at the same time. Everyone waits for the right time to make the announcement and for me, it wasn’t until I couldn’t hide it anymore and was tired of wearing over sized sweatshirts.”
Now, Mitchell tells PEOPLE it was “really important to” her to reveal her pregnancy on her own terms. “I really wanted to make sure that I announced it when I was ready and not before. And that’s exactly what happened,” she says. “So now, being able to shoot about my pregnancy for my channel and all of that, it feels right. It worked out perfectly.”
The Shaycation x REVOLVE summer capsule collection, with 30 pieces ranging from $20 to $218, is available for purchase now at revolve.com.
