GROWING PAINS

Miss Universe, 34, Hits Back at Cruel Weight Gain Comments

The beauty queen addressed critics who mocked her for “blowing up” while pregnant.

Olivia Culpo is refusing to let comments about her pregnancy weight gain get under her skin.

The 34-year-old actress and beauty queen, who was crowned Miss Universe in 2012, addressed online chatter about her changing body Wednesday as she prepares to welcome her second child with husband Christian McCaffrey.

“I am 37 weeks pregnant. Want to talk about pregnancy weight gain?” Culpo said in a TikTok video filmed while she did her makeup.

The Culpo Sisters star proudly showed off her belly in a tight gray matching set before sitting down at her vanity to address criticism of her body.

“I feel like everybody’s always so surprised by, like, ‘Oh, my God, she really blows up,’” she said.

Culpo gained international fame overnight in 2012 when she won the Miss Universe pageant, making her the first American titleholder in five years.

The competition’s parent company, the Miss Universe Organization, was owned by Donald J. Trump from 1996 until its sale to WME/IMG in 2015, one year before he won the 2016 presidential election.

Culpo already has a 14-month-old daughter, Colette, with the San Francisco 49ers running back, and said she sees the bodily changes differently than her critics.

“I take a lot of pride in the fact that I am growing a baby,” the beauty-queen-turned-actress said. “Every time I see that I’m growing, I always think that my baby is growing, and that means that my baby is healthy.”

She also urged other expectant mothers not to panic over the scale—or compare how quickly their bodies change after giving birth.

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Culpo joked that McCaffrey is “so in shape” and “so annoyingly, like, perfect in every single way,” but said even the NFL star reminds her not to rush her postpartum recovery.

“Even he says you have to give yourself a year,” she said.

That message appears especially personal for Culpo, who became pregnant again only about six months after giving birth to Colette in July 2025.

She admitted in May that the second pregnancy caught her by surprise because she had only just started feeling like herself again after her first.

“I was working out,” she recalled. “I could see some abs coming. That’s just not what the body wants right now.”

Still, Culpo said she felt “so fortunate” to be able to welcome another child.

This pregnancy has also come with some NFL-season scheduling gymnastics.

With McCaffrey in the middle of the NFL season, the couple carefully scheduled the C-section for one of his off-days so he could be there for the delivery before returning to the San Francisco 49ers.

But with the birth now approaching, the reality of that arrangement has started to sink in.

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“Christian is leaving the day I give birth,” Culpo said. “I’m going in for a C-section, and then he has to leave that same day.”

She admitted she had already begun Wednesday morning crying over the situation, while trying to remind herself that McCaffrey would at least be there for the birth.

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“And honestly, I should be grateful, because some guys legitimately miss the birth of their child,” she said. “At least I get to plan that it’s a C-section.”

That mix of gratitude and difficulty, Culpo said, is exactly why she wants to show followers a less polished side of pregnancy and postpartum life.

“I love getting to share, like, this most vulnerable part with you guys and, like, sharing how my body has changed,” she said. “This is all part of the beautiful sacrifice of motherhood.”

She also acknowledged that even when pregnancy and motherhood look effortless online, the reality can be much harder.

“Pregnancy, postpartum, all of it. It is so hard,” Culpo said. “Even when people make it look easy, it’s hard.”

Her candid message resonated with followers, many of whom thanked Culpo for speaking openly about pregnancy weight gain and postpartum recovery.

“As someone who also BLOWS up during pregnancy and holds on to weight for dear life when nursing, I so appreciate you being so real and genuine!” one user wrote.

Another said Culpo’s outlook had given her a new way to think about her own pregnancy: “Ok but the idea that ‘you growing = baby growing’ is SO helpful!! Will def be looking at it that way with baby #2 🫶🏻.”

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Tamilore OshikanluContributor

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