INTERVIEW: Christina Aguilera

Christina Aguilera gets nakey for the cover of Marie Claire's January 2008 issue.

Christina is due in January2008 (the same month as Nicole Richie!)

On finding out she was pregnant: “We were planning on starting to try after the tour. And so, I had gone off the Pill to prepare my body, because I didn’t know how much time it would take. You’ve heard it takes some time — except with Power Egg and Super Sperm here… I’m like, Oh, my God, can you believe it just happened?”

On being pregnant while on tour: “I was paranoid. There are so many things that could go wrong — somebody could slip, somebody could fall, I could fall. There was no way in hell I was going to jeopardize my baby for my show.” So she wore a well-concealed heart monitor. She didn’t want to broadcast the news. “I didn’t want to make the audience uncomfortable, like, ‘Pregnant lady onstage! Is she going to be OK?’ But I had to announce it to my band and my dancers, because I wanted to make sure they had my back.”

On not announcing it: “Because I hadn’t said anything, people thought I was trying to keep it this big, bad secret, and that’s not the case at all. I just wasn’t commenting. I’m not being like, ‘Hey, everybody, I’m pregnant!’ I’m not that girl.”

On the labels: “We’re so labeled. If you’re too sexual, you’re slutty. If you’re not sexual enough, you’re a prude. I like to put it out there as a topic of conversation. Why does it bother you? What’s your problem with it? Am I really hurting you? Let’s get to the root of it. I have more than one side of me that likes to get out on a stage and sing. Sometimes I want to be aggressive, sometimes I want to feel empowered in my sexuality and my vulnerability. I want to put all that out there.”