So soon?
When word leaked out that Georgina Wilson is pregnant with her and husband Arthur Burnand’s first baby, celebrity-watchers started doing arithmetic. The couple was married last April 30 in Winchester, Hampshire, England (where Arthur also proposed to Georgina), so was Georgina already having morning sickness when she and Arthur swapped “I do’s” (in Catholic ceremony since both of them are Catholic)?
“Yes,” Georgina confirmed in an exclusive interview with The STAR, “I am four months and a few weeks pregnant and I just learned last month that I got pregnant soon after but not before the wedding.”
The baby’s gender is being kept confidential until Oct. 24 when the new show It Girls! starts airing on the E! Channel, with Georgina as host with her cousin Isabelle Daza (who is getting married to her French boyfriend Adrien Semblat next week in Italy), and their good friends Liz Uy and Solenn Heussaff (who got married to Argentinian Nico Bolzico last May 22 in France). Georgina used to host Asia’s Next Top Model on the same channel.
“The whole initial episode will be devoted to my baby,” said Georgina whose mom, Aurora, is the sister of Isabelle’s mom, Gloria Diaz. “It will be some kind of a baby shower. The show will be aired in 27 Asian countries.”
Because she thought that she couldn’t have a baby, Georgina recalled that when she learned that she was, indeed, pregnant, she couldn’t believe it.
“I was shocked!” she confessed. “When I attended Solenn’s wedding, everybody noticed that I was having a tummy. I thought that I was just eating too much because I was craving for food all the time. It’s natural for me to be like that but I was surprised when I began craving for pasta which I didn’t usually like.”
Besides, she added, “I had no plans of having a baby yet. Funny because when my friends would ask me when Arthur and I were having a baby, I would say, ‘Oh no, not me, not me!’ I didn’t tell anybody that I had this secret fear of not being able to bear a child. I had zero idea that I was pregnant because there were no signs at all. My period is irregular, so if I missed it, I wouldn’t suspect that I was getting pregnant.”
Still, even as she kept on working out, Georgina said that she was not losing weight.
“I did not just one but two pregnancy tests and they turned out negative. Or maybe I messed them up.”
In July, Georgina flew to Hong Kong for a general check-up and later to meet up with Arthur who is based in Shanghai. Arthur is connected with the Swire Group of Companies.
“I was having breathing difficulty, so at the clinic I requested for a chest x-ray. I was asked to fill up a form. The nurse asked me when I had my last period and I said in March pa kasi nga irregular ako. Before the chest x-ray, they did pregnancy test on me.”
Nurse (a Filipino): You’re pregnant. Congratulations!
Georgina (shocked): Ha!?!
Nurse (voice turning from joyful to somewhat sad): I’m sorry. Were you not expecting? Are you on birth control?
Georgina (still incredulous): No, I’m not!
“I couldn’t believe it because I had convinced myself that I couldn’t have a baby. That’s how strong your mind is. That was in July, and I was four months pregnant at that time. Now, I’m four months and a few weeks pregnant na.”
Then Georgina called Arthur and Arthur couldn’t stop crying.
“I freaked out! I told Arthur, ‘Stop crying! I should be the one crying!’ You know, Arthur loves kids. Last year, we were on a holiday with Paula (Taylor, a Thai-British TV host based on Thailand) and her husband. I saw how Arthur enjoyed playing with the couple’s baby. Right then and there, I told Arthur, ‘Oh my God, you’re the man I want to marry!’ Arthur has three (older) siblings and I have two (younger) siblings. We hope to have three children of our own.”
The STAR was with Georgina Monday afternoon at Bizu Patisseries in Rockwell, near where she lives. She ordered Kouign Amann (topped with ice cream) and four pieces of small naked caramel pastries topped with salted caramel ice cream and vanilla sauce, with a side order of Macaron de Paris downed with Orange Juice, finishing all of them before we finished the interview.
Laughed Georgina, “Arthur will scold me when he learns what I have just eaten. He doesn’t want me to be taking too much sweets.”
The “honeymoon baby” (as Georgina called it), who will be delivered in January 2017, shares the same zodiac sign with Georgina, an Aquarian born in February 1986.
“It turned out that Arthur and I started having a baby during our honeymoon in Spain. We were supposed to simply relax after our wedding. We planned to have a real honeymoon in December. Instead, I will be having a baby, my belated Christmas gift to Arthur. Our baby will have two homes…Shanghai where Arthur works and Manila where I work,” said Georgina, who is half-Brit and half-Filipina.
While waiting for the stork’s visit, Georgina continues to be busy. Yesterday, she flew to Hong Kong to shoot portions of It Girls (which Raymond Gutierrez is producing) with Solenn, Liz and Isabelle. And then, they will go to Italy for Isabelle’s wedding. Back home, she will attend to her and Arthur’s Sunnies business (Sunnies Café and Sunnies Specs at the Bonifacio Global City) which is set to open more outlets.
“And maybe early next year,” she revealed, “Arthur and I will go on a ski vacation; it has been booked in advance. Solenn, Belle and Anne (Curtis) are going with us. They will act as our baby’s yayas.”
(E-mail reactions at entphilstar@yahoo.com. You may also send your questions to askrickylo@gmail.com.)