ET spoke with Pulliam and her husband, Brad James, about their exciting baby news ahead of the premiere of their Lifetime film.
Keshia Knight Pulliam and her husband, Brad James, are going into the holiday season with a lot of excitement. Not only is the couple celebrating the upcoming release of their Lifetime film, New Orleans Noel, but they're also welcoming a fourth member of their family in the new year!
ET spoke with the duo about the sweet new development in their lives, with Pulliam admitting that she's feeling "very pregnant" but "happy."
"[I'm] enjoying every moment," she added. "You know, when it's the last [one] you're like, 'Oh I know I have heartburn but it's OK.'"
"She's doing really well, she's been preparing for this long before we actually did get pregnant," James said of his wife. "So she's very ready!"
Pulliam announced her pregnancy on Thursday, sharing a brief video on Instagram with the caption, "Baby James coming 2023!" It's the first child for the couple, who tied the knot last September, and the second for Pulliam, who shares her daughter, Ella, 5, with her ex-husband, NFL star Ed Hartwell.
According to Pulliam and James, Ella is already fully in big sister mode and even more excited now that the family has shared the news with the world.
"She is going to be an awesome big sister, she is excited," Pulliam shared. "She has known from like the beginning, so she actually did a really good job because she kept the secret! I was like, 'Listen, Ella, you cannot tell anybody,' so now she’ll be like, 'Do they know about the baby, can I tell them?' So, now she has free rein to tell everybody."
In a beautifully full-circle moment, the New Orleans Noel co-stars first met on the set of the Lifetime movie Pride & Prejudice: Atlanta in 2019. Although they were playing brother and sister on the screen, behind the scenes a romance was ignited.
They got engaged in December 2020 before exchanging vows last year. Now, they're starring opposite each other again for Lifetime's new holiday film, but this time they get to fall in love.
Pulliam and James play Grace Hill and Anthony Brown, a duo who studied architecture together in college but couldn't be more different. But when they’re both hired to work on the home of Loretta Brown (Patti LaBelle) -- a New Orleans praline icon -- the two find themselves stuck working together at Christmas and butting heads over more than just architecture.
"That is one of the joys of doing a movie with your husband and actually loving and liking your husband, we had a lot of fun with this," Pulliam shared. "We love every opportunity to work together, whether it's onscreen, whether one is producing or directing or what have you, so it was exciting. It was definitely a family affair! Ella has a little cameo in here. She is super excited about it, so we had a really good time."
James added, "It’s a beautiful story shot in a beautiful city with so much rich culture. They have a resilient history embedded in the culture and it’s a different kind of holiday destination for people to fall in love [in]. So, you get to fall in love, not only with Grace and Anthony and their journey together through pralines and architecture, but with the feeling and the music and the vibe. It gets to be like layers, like a cake."
And while the duo loved working together, the true magic was working alongside LaBelle, which they reveal led to a lot of fans coming to their set to impress the singer with their rendition of her music.
"We had people coming up and -- bless their hearts, they gave it their best try, but nobody is Patti but Patti," Pulliam recalled. "She literally sat [down] and people would sing their hearts out -- off-key -- for us on the street."
"She was very sweet about it," James noted, which Pulliam agreed with, adding that LaBelle was "so kind and so supportive" of the bold fans.
"At the same time, that’s the beauty of when people experience your music or your movies or what have you," Pulliam said. "There's such a connection and a kinship that even if they never met you before, they feel so [much]. Regardless of [whether] it was a great rendition of Patti -- 'cause no one can do Patti like Patti -- but it was the heart that came through and even more how it's received. Everyone clapped and was excited, so it was a lot of fun."
New Orleans Noel premieres Dec. 3 on Lifetime.
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