Beyoncé’s Father Mathew Knowles Says He Didn’t Get a Heads Up on Her Pregnancy: ‘I Was Shocked’ but ‘Happy’

When Beyoncé announced she was pregnant with twins via social media on Wednesday, Mathew Knowles was just as shocked as the Beyhive.

The 65-year-old father of the "Daddy Lessons" singer chatted with The Insider's Debbie Matenopoulos on Thursday, revealing he had no idea his daughter was expecting any more kids with husband Jay Z.

"I was shocked," Knowles, who teaches entertainment industry courses at Texas Southern University, explained. "Let me tell you what happened. I got a first text, and I was like, 'Why is this person saying congratulations?' Then I get a second text from one of my students at Texas Southern, and I was like, 'What are you talking about?' He was like, 'Go to the web.' I didn't know myself."

Although he wasn't in the loop on the pregnancy news before it went public, he thought the way Beyoncé announced it was "smart."

"That was very smart that she did it rather than someone else, [like] the media, doing it. So I think that was a really smart move on her part," he said, adding that he thinks "it was strategy" and that "there's more to come."

His daughter is, after all, no stranger to breaking the internet with her surprises, like the self-release of Lemonade. The brunette beauty dropped the visual album's debut track, "Formation," without any warning during Super Bowl weekend last year.

"I guess that's why it's Beyoncé, right?" he joked. "She's always been like that."

"She was quiet as a kid," he noted. "It's when she got on the stage that everything [changed]. Sasha Fierce, remember?"

Knowles said that after he heard what all the buzz was about, he called his daughter. "I was like 'B,' [and] she said, 'Hi, Dad.' I was like, 'You're OK?' Because she sounded a little tired because she's working on the GRAMMY performance."

"We just had a wonderful daughter-dad conversation," he added. "[But] I'm not gonna tell you all of that."

What he could reveal, however, was that his daughter was definitely feeling all the love from her fans.

"Absolutely she feels the love," he gushed. "I know I feel the love for her. I've probably gotten at least 250 text messages. So, I'm feeling the love for her and I'm sure she's feeling and seeing the love."

And now that the word is officially out, Knowles told The Insider he couldn't be happier about being a grandfather to two more babies. He said he already knows 5-year-old Blue Ivy will be a great big sister!

Beyonce

"I'm extremely, extremely proud and happy, both with Jay and her," he gushed. "And [their daughter] Blue Ivy is gonna have some brothers and sisters."

"Blue Ivy is already excited," he continued. "Beyoncé and I had a great conversation yesterday. I'm looking forward to seeing her soon and I told her, 'Look, slow down a little bit. You need to slow down a little bit.'"

Taking it easy may be a little hard for her, however, as she's currently gearing up for a performance at the 59th Annual GRAMMY Awards. Multiple sources confirmed to ET on Thursday that Queen B will be taking the stage when the awards are handed out live on Feb. 12, 2017 on CBS.

Solange congratulates her sister Beyoncé on her pregnancy with the sweetest post

You might feel like the world is going to hell in a hand basket at the moment, but one thing that will surely help us in these uncertain times is an army of little Beyoncés. Luckily, the singer announced yesterday that she’s pregnant with twins (OMG! Yes, Bey!) and her sister, Solange, celebrated the pregnancy news in the best possible way.

In a short-and-sweet post on her Instagram Story, Solange acknowledged the impending arrival of Beyoncé and Jay Z’s twin miracles by re-sharing her sister’s epically baroque pregnancy announcement photo with the words “proud auntie” laid over it. The placement of the text is key, clearly referencing the two babies on the way. Take a look!

She had to, of course, add a baby bottle, a rainbow, other fripperies, and a crown on her sister’s head — because what would a social media pregnancy announcement be without stickers?

On her Instagram feed today, Solange continued the celebration by posting another one of Bey’s pregnancy photos — this time a romantic underwater shot — with only a bouquet of flowers emoji in the caption. Sister love — there’s nothing like it, amirite?

Queen Bey announced her pregnancy on Instagram yesterday, immediately setting the internet ablaze and racking up the most likes ever on an Instagram post — 8.4 million (and counting!) to be exact.

On Beyonce.com — the website version of heaven, in case you’ve never checked it out — Beyoncé posted a whole series of pregnancy photos, including more from her gorgeous floral shoot and others taken in a pool. She also shared intimate photos of her mother and grandmother, as well as snaps from throughout her life with Jay Z.

We can’t wait to meet you, sweet Carter babies!

Pharrell Williams and Helen Lasichanh just became parents again — with a major “This Is Us” twist

We finally have some “happy” news to report.

Pharrell Williams and Helen Lasichanh welcomed triplets in January, meaning he should probably call Milo Ventimiglia straight away for advice on how to handle three babies at once while also looking super, super fly, because no one has nailed this better than the star of This Is Us.

Williams, 43, and Lasichanh, 36, also share an 8-year-old son, Rocket Williams. They’ve been married since 2013, and revealed Lasichanh’s second (and third, and fourth) pregnancy to the world back in September 2016, when Lasichanh debuted her bump at a Chanel-hosted dinner to celebrate their new fragrance N°5 L’EAU.

But until today, nobody outside the couple’s immediate orbit seemed to know they were in for triplets. Big three!

According to Vanity Fair, Williams’ rep confirmed that all three babies arrived safe and sound earlier this month, but no names or genders were given to the press. The rep also confirmed that Lasichanh was feeling “healthy and happy,” which is wonderful to hear given that delivering three babies in one go seems like, you know, a bit of a challenge.

Williams is currently nominated for an Academy Award for producing Hidden Figures, and showed up to the PGA Awards this past weekend as a nominee as well, with the film ultimately losing to La La Land.

Only time will tell if Lasichanh will be well enough to be by his side come February 26, but either way — we hope Rocket is ready to collect some serious babysitting coins in years to come, because with dad making an impact in so many genres and mom making her mark in fashion and perfume, they’re going to need more than a little help managing their sure-to-be-adorable army of babies.

Donald Trump 'yelled at Australian PM during "worst ever" phone call about refugee swap deal - then HUNG UP'

Malcolm Turnbull denied the President slammed the phone down saying the conversation ended cordially - and he insisted the US will honor Obama's refugee deal

The Post reported that Trump described the resettlement plan as "the worst deal ever" and accused Australia of trying to export the "next Boston bombers", referring to the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013.

The attack was carried out by two Chechen-American brothers who moved to the US as children a short time after their parents arrived on tourist visas in 2002 and successfully applied for asylum.

A black and white photo released by the White House following the conversation shows Trump on the phone at his desk in the Oval Office.

The Post's report about the phone call last weekend has pointed to a rare rift in ties between the US and Australia, where Turnbull leads with a thin majority.

Turnbull said on Thursday he had spoken "candidly" and "frankly" with Trump, but would not confirm that the President had berated him and cut the call short.

He said: "I do stand up for Australia. My job is to defend Australian interests."

But sources told Sky News Australia the Aussie PM believes Trump is a "bully" and that "to combat a bully, you need to bully back".

The source went on: "[Trump's] tone was described as “yelling” across the phone at Malcolm Turnbull.

"Malcolm Turnbull wasn’t just sitting there being berated by Donald Trump, he used this phone call to push back."

Trump took to Twitter to add more fuel to the controversy by tweeting: "Do you believe it? The Obama Administration agreed to take thousands of illegal immigrants from Australia. Why? I will study this dumb deal!"

The saga continued when Turnbull then felt the need to respond further and he appeared live on several radio shows in Australia.

Beyonce Poses in Underwear to Reveal She's Pregnant With Twins

Beyoncé just shared some exciting news.

The 35-year-old singer posted a message to her 92 million fans on Instagram on Wednesday announcing that she is pregnant with twins.

In the image, the singer is seen posing in a sheer bra, which appears to be Agent Provocateur’s $130 burgundy Lorna scalloped embroidered tulle underwired bra, and blue satin underwear with a colored veil covering her face, surrounded by a unique floral arrangement.

She captioned the post, “We would like to share our love and happiness. We have been blessed two times over. We are incredibly grateful that our family will be growing by two, and we thank you for your well wishes. – The Carters.”

The news that Blue Ivy Carter will have two siblings shocked — and delighted — fans around the world. Many posted comments congratulating the singer. “Yes!! Congrats Carter Crew!!” user Han commented. “That’s fantastic!! Congratulations,” another user Cassandra Oh commented.

The Instagram announcement is quite different from the way she revealed her first pregnancy in 2011 (although equally as epic).

Following her performance of “Love on Top” at the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards, the singer popped open her sequin tuxedo, rubbed her stomach, and smiled to the crowd.

She told the audience, “I want you to feel the love that’s growing inside me.”

Nigerian woman, 43, racks up £500,000 NHS bill after giving birth to IVF quadruplets in London hospital after going into labor on flight to Heathrow - hours after she was turned away from the US

• The fourth episode of BBC2's Hospital details the story of a Nigerian woman who had quadruplets in London after a stop-over flight from Nigeria
• Filmed at London's Queen Charlotte’s and Chelsea Hospital, it shows her racking up a £500,000 invoice, which remains unpaid
• She is currently staying at a hostel run by a charity and is unable to afford the bill
• Health tourism is estimated to cost the NHS more than £280 million each year
• 
  

One of the largest hospitals in the country is chasing a bill of more than £500,000 from a Nigerian woman who gave birth to quadruplets.

The 43-year-old, named only as Priscilla, went into labour three months early shortly after landing at Heathrow airport in November.

She had intended to give birth to the babies in Chicago, in the US, where she has family – but was turned away by border officials upon arrival.

They claimed that although she had a visa, she did not have required documents from a hospital stating that she had the money to pay for the birth.

Health tourist? A 43 year-old Lagos native, known as Priscilla, is the subject of this week's BBC2 documentary Hospital after racking-up a £500,000 maternity bill

Priscilla, pictured, said she 'would never earn' enough to pay the bill for her treatment 'if she worked every day in her life'

Priscilla, a healthcare worker, said she was returning to Nigeria via London when she started having contractions.

She was taken to the Queen Charlotte’s and Chelsea Hospital in west London, part of Imperial College Hospital, where she delivered the four babies.

One sadly died shortly after birth while another, a girl named Deborah, passed away on Saturday. The other two, Elijah and Esther, are still being treated on the hospital’s neonatal intensive care ward.

Staff estimate that the total bill for the highly complex birth and the care of the babies is already more than £500,000.

Pictured: One of Priscilla's children. She collapsed while on a stop-over in London and was rushed to hospital where she gave birth 

Hospital overseas visitor manager Terry Facey said the cost to Priscilla would be huge and estimated intensive care would cost £20,000 per week per child

The cost of treating one baby in neonatal intensive care is £20,000 a week.

Priscilla is currently staying at a hostel run by a charity and is unable to afford the bill.

Her husband is in Nigeria, and cannot come to Britain to help take care of her as he does not have enough money for a visa or the flight.

Priscilla underwent IVF treatment, which has a high risk of multiple births, as she was struggling to conceive naturally due to her age. 

She was told by her doctor to fly to the US to have her babies, as Nigerian hospitals do not have the ‘facilities to cater for the children’.

Her case is revealed tonight in the BBC 2 documentary Hospital, which exposes the pressures of health tourism on the trust. 

When first warned of the high treatment costs by overseas visitor manager Terry Facey, she says: ‘I didn’t plan to come here.

‘It’s only money. Money can’t buy life. The last bill I had was £331,000 but – even if I worked every day – I would never earn that much money. My kids are priceless.’

Mr Facey, who has worked at the trust for 12 years trying to collect bills for overseas patients, says: ‘Those invoices are going to be huge ... 20 grand a week for each baby [in intensive care]. 

Talking about her bill on the documentary, Priscilla, pictured, said 'It's only money. Money can't buy life'

He says only a few are health tourists deliberately targeting the NHS. A spokesman for Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust declined to comment.

Last month it emerged that another hospital was chasing a Nigerian mother for a £350,000 bill after she had flown to Britain to give birth to twins.

The woman, who was not identified at the time, had a caesarean at Luton and Dunstable University Hospital, after she was transferred there from another due to pregnancy complications.

Her twins then spent two months in intensive care.

The case was uncovered through a series of freedom of information requests, sent by the Daily Mail to all hospitals in England.

A spokesman confirmed the hospital was owed £348,683 by the mother, who gave birth in 2015.

By Sophie Borland, Health Editor For The Daily Mail

PUBLISHED: 18:55, 31 January 2017 | UPDATED: 11:19, 1 February 2017

Tuesday’s Morning Email: Trump Fires Acting Attorney General

Dana Boente has replaced Sally Yates.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP FIRES ACTING ATTORNEY GENERAL SALLY YATES  After she said the Justice Department would not defend Trump’s executive order on immigration. White House spokesman Sean Spicer said Yates had “betrayed the Department of Justice” by refusing to defend the executive order.  Yates’ letter, which says she was not “convinced that the Executive Order is lawful.” Dana Boente, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, was named as acting attorney general.

"(Yates) has betrayed the Department of Justice," the White House statement said.

Dana Boente, US attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, was sworn in at 9 p.m. ET, per an administration official. A few hours later, Boente issued a statement rescinding Yates' order, instructing DOJ lawyers to "defend the lawful orders of our President."

Trump didn't call Yates to dismiss her, she was informed by hand-delivered letter, according to a different administration official.

The move set up a clash between the White House and Yates, who was appointed by President Barack Obama and was set to serve until Sen. Jeff Sessions, Trump's nominee for attorney general, if confirmed.

"My responsibility is to ensure that the position of the Department of Justice is not only legally defensible, but is informed by our best view of what the law is after consideration of all the facts," she said in a letter. "In addition, I am responsible for ensuring that the positions we take in court remain consistent with this institution's solemn obligation to always seek justice and stand for what is right."

Trump's executive order, signed Friday, bars citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States for the next 90 days, suspends the admission of all refugees for 120 days and indefinitely suspends the Syrian refugee program. Yates' decision came amid a flood of protests against the executive order nationwide and after four federal judges ruled against Trump's order, staying its impact on people who were detained at US airports over the weekend.The dramatic move came soon after CNN reported Yates told Justice Department lawyers not to make legal arguments defending Trump's executive order on immigration and refugees. 

Trump tweeted his response shortly after the news broke, saying Democrats have stymied Sessions' confirmation, enabling Yates.

"The Democrats are delaying my cabinet picks for purely political reasons. They have nothing going but to obstruct. Now have an Obama A.G.," he said.

 Follow

Donald J. Trump 

✔@realDonaldTrump

The Democrats are delaying my cabinet picks for purely political reasons. They have nothing going but to obstruct. Now have an Obama A.G.

12:45 AM - 31 Jan 2017

 
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"At present, I am not convinced that the defense of the executive order is consistent with these responsibilities nor am I convinced that the executive order is lawful," Yates wrote.

Yates' decision was always likely to be extremely short-lived as Sessions is scheduled for a vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday.

White House policy director Stephen Miller, who helped craft the executive order, called Yates' decision "a further demonstration of how politicized our legal system has become."

The US ban: Why these 7?

"It's sad that our politics have become so politicized, that you have people refusing to enforce our laws," Miller said Monday night on MSNBC.

Miller also defended the executive order's legality, insisting that the Immigration and Nationality Act gives the President "the ability to exclude any class of would-be visitors or immigrants to our country based on our national security interests."

BARACK OBAMA WEIGHED IN ON TRUMP’S IMMIGRATION BAN MONDAY AFTERNOON The former president said in a statement that he “fundamentally disagrees with the notion of discriminating against individuals because of their faith.” [HuffPost]