The real reason why First Wives Club is hiding Jayla’s pregnancy

The tiny baby bump that you may have spotted on First Wives Club’s Jayla in season three, has little to do with the character.

Although the long days on the set of a television show can take up a lot of our favorite actors’ lives, they still have to balance work-, family- and other obligations, in between, just like the rest of us.

And because of this, Hollywood has devised a variety of extra creative ways to deal with real-life pregnancies on-screen.

Some shows simply write their actors’ pregnancies into the storyline, while others use a combination of strategic camera angles and really zoomed in close-up shots to ensure that the audience is none the wiser.

The ABC sitcom, Modern Family, infamously tried to hide Julie Bowen’s pregnancy by having her fold the same large blanket for about two straight minutes in one scene in its first season.

Grey’s Anatomy confined Ellen Pompeo’s character Meredith Grey to bed rest for a fair few episodes when her bump simply became too large to hide while standing up.

Everything you need to know about Jayla’s baby bump

So, if you have already watched the third season of First Wives Club and found yourself wondering about the slight baby bump that you could spy in some of our newest BFF Jayla Wright’s scenes – just know that it is probably not what you think it is.

While the thought of welcoming a little Jayla and Jacob baby on the show is almost too cute to handle, these few scenes were likely just a slip of the camera, as this growing baby bump was actually actress, Michelle Mitchenor’s real-life pregnancy and had nothing to do with her character.

The First Wives Club timeline

Like most of the shows you see on television, First Wives Club finishes filming its seasons quite a few months prior to these seasons’ releases.

And, since Mitchenor had been pregnant three times in two years, it is really no wonder that a few not-so strategic shots slipped through the editing cracks when it came to Jayla’s scenes.

All in all, the First Wives Club timeline can be summarized as follows:

Michelle Mitchenor’s beautiful real-life family

While Mitchenor’s character, Jayla, had gone through a pretty ugly divorce before we met her on the show, the actress has actually been happily married to her husband, Mustafa Speaks, since 2018, in real life.

Speaks is also an actor and has appeared in shows like NCIS and Lethal Weapon over the years.

And as of January 2023, the happy couple’s family has now expanded to include two babies, Noir (who was born in 2020) and Legacy (born in 2023).

Mitchenor and Speak also had an angel baby in 2022, which is why she is so passionate about fighting for reproductive rights.

Michelle Mitchenor is a strong advocate for reproductive rights

If you have not been keeping up with the First Wives Club cast outside of the series, you might have missed the fact that Michelle Mitchenor uses her platform to support various causes which are close to her heart.

This includes Mitchenor’s YouTube Channel ‘Black Women Create’, which not only amplifies the voices of Women of Color, but also supports the journeys of Women of Color in the creative field.

Outside of the world of content creation, Mitchenor is also heavily involved in The Mitchenor Foundation, which aims to improve the quality of and access to Arts Education in underprivileged communities.

Mitchenor has also publicly showed her support for charities like The Brigid Alliance and has shared very openly about her own experience with abortion and difficult pregnancies.

What does this mean for Michelle Mitchenor’s character Jayla?

(Spoilers for season three ahead) Though the third season of First Wives Club started out in a very rocky place, Jayla actually ended the season on quite a high note.

She and Jacob made up and moved on from the past, and she even made peace with Tyrell.

And though a real-life pregnancy is no guarantee of an on-screen one, it does really seem like Jayla is in the exact right place in her life to welcome a little bundle of joy.

However, given all of the shocking twists and turns that First Wives Club has taken throughout the course of this most recent season, there is just really no telling where Jayla’s story will go if the series does return for another season.