Jeannie Mai Jenkins is pregnant! The Real co-host and her husband Jeezy expecting their first child together following fertility struggle: 'It was not easy'

The Real co-host Jeannie Mai Jenkins is going to be a mom.

The 42-year-old television personality revealed that she and husband Jeezy are expecting their first child together, in a new interview with Women's Health on Monday.

Jeannie got candid about the difficult time she had conceiving, which included a painful a miscarriage. 'It was not easy,' she admitted.

'Jeezy and I have been kind of saving this and hiding this for five months,' Jeannie gushed to the magazine. 'So, we're relieved to finally share the news.' 

The brunette beauty debuted her growing baby bump in a series of stunning photos where she posed outdoors in a flowing royal blue gown. 

Mai revealed that she and her rapper husband went down the IVF route to try to conceive and suffered a miscarriage around the time the pair tied the knot in March.   

'I wondered if I was being punished. I wondered if I'd jinxed myself or cursed myself,' she admitted. 'My entire life, I never wanted children. When I say never, I'm talking a hard-stop never.'

The television star explained that it was the 'honest, pure, and safe' love she found with her husband that opened her up to the idea of starting a family. 

'It was the most beautiful sign that anything's possible, that you're not in control, and God has a plan,' Jeannie said of finding out she was pregnant right after getting married.

Mai said she's been reflecting on her own upbringing throughout the last five months of her pregnancy, particularly how her own parents handled the trauma of her sexual assault. 

'It still affects me to this day as an adult. So now, when I think about my child, the one thing I can tell you is how much I plan to protect this child,' she said. 'I've got that down on lock.'

In 2018, Jeannie went public with her story of being sexually abused by a family member when she was a child. 

During an episode of The Real, Mai revealed that beginning at age 9 and lasting until she was 13 she had been repeatedly abused by a relative. 

'It went on for four years, and then two years later I found the strength to say something. But if it took me two years or it took me 20 years, it does not invalidate what happened to me,' she said at the time.

Looking towards the future, Jeannie told Women's Health that she's unsure of what to expect in her new role as a mother but looking for guidance from her husband who has two children from a previous relationship. 'He's an amazing dad,' Jeannie gushed.

Mai announced the big news the same day her daytime talk show, The Real, returned for an all-new season eight.

A former makeup artist, Jeannie has served as a co-host of The Real since its inception in 2013. 

She was previously married to Freddy Harteis from 2007 - 2017. Jeannie began dating Jeezy in 2018 and were wed during the pandemic in a small Atlanta ceremony in March 2021.