Shay Mitchell is expecting her first child.

Shay Mitchell (c) Instagram

Shay Mitchell (c) Instagram

The 'Pretty Little Liars' star has revealed she is more than six months pregnant with her first child with her longtime boyfriend, Matte Babel.

Announcing her news on Instagram, she wrote: "Does this mean I'm allowed to drive in the car pool lane at all times now? (sic)"

And in an accompanying video, Shay revealed it had been "hard" to keep her pregnancy a secret.

She said: "When you're in the public eye, there are some things you want to just keep a secret until you feel ready. This, for me, has been the hardest. It's going to be really fun and awesome when I'm not trying to hide it anymore. I didn't want to come out on social media so early on. I'm going to be so happy when this comes out. I can be pregnant, like not suck my stomach in."

Meanwhile, Shay previously confessed she thinks social media can be "really dangerous" and she worries about how other people perceive similar sites and how it might affect their own self-confidence.

She shared: "I think we all have to realise and recognise the fact that Instagram and social media in general is, a majority of the time, our highlight reel - it's certainly my highlight reel. That's not my everyday life. Now, are those real life moments? Yes, absolutely. But are they heightened? Have those photos been taken 5,000 times to get the right angle? Do I have makeup, lighting? One hundred percent.

"It can get really dangerous if you start to believe that social media is realistic. If you can go into it knowing there's filters behind each and every one of those photos, or this is a photo that was professionally shot, then I feel like it allows yourself to be less harsh on your own photos. Everybody's life in general isn't maybe always what it seems."


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