Shanae Ankney is going to be a mom! The Bachelor and Bachelor in Paradise alum shared she’s expecting her first child, a girl, with boyfriend Nate Ebner.
“I cannot wait to become a girl mom 🎀🧸🩷 baby Ebner arriving April 2024 ✨” Ankney, 31, shared via Instagram on Monday, October 23, alongside snaps of the pair celebrating and a bite of a cupcake unveiling pink frosting in the middle.
Ankney, who is 16 weeks pregnant, told People she knew she was pregnant before she “even took the test.”
“I just had a gut feeling,” she said. “We waited and waited for the double lines to show up, and boom! The double lines appeared.”
The pair underwent genetic testing around 10 weeks to determine the sex of their little one.
“Instead of opening the results from the doctor, we took the results to a bakery to have cupcakes made with either pink or blue colors to find out the gender once we bit into them,” she told the outlet. “Nate and I did a little reveal together with just the two of us. I wanted something more intimate due to it being our first pregnancy.”
The former New York Giants and the New England Patriots player, 34, for his part, is “super excited” about becoming a dad and said he “can’t wait to have a one-of-a-kind relationship with this little girl.”
“I think Shanae is a wonderful human with a beautiful soul, and I can’t wait to watch her be an amazing mother to our child.”
He continued: “She will be the absolute best, as she has so much love to give. I know it will be difficult, but I think I have a lot to offer, and I’m excited about the experience, the challenge and the learning along the way.”
Bachelor Nation first met Ankney during Clayton Echard’s season 26 in January 2022 where she was portrayed as the villain. She primarily drew backlash for her comments about fellow contestant Elizabeth Corrigan’s ADHD diagnosis. (Echard, 30, later revealed he would’ve sent Ankney home “immediately” if he had known about the interaction.)
Ultimately, Ankney was infamously sent home during a two-on-one date in Niagara Falls with Echard and Genevieve Parisi. (After the show, Echard went on to reconcile with contestant Susie Evans, but the pair called it quits in September 2022.)
Ankney, for her part, joined the cast of Bachelor in Paradise season 8 but ultimately left the beaches of Mexico single. She and Ebner went public with their relationship in April via Instagram.
