If you’ve already binged the first four episodes of Younger‘s final season — which are now streaming on Stan — you likely won’t yet have noticed that Kelsey Peters, played by the incomparable Hilary Duff looks a little different.
However, that will certainly change as the season progresses.
You see, Duff, 33, was pregnant during the show’s last season of production which prompted series creator Darren Star to figure out if he saw a baby, as well as best-sellers, in Kelsey’s future.
Ultimately, the executive producer decided to hide Duff’s pregnancy, telling Entertainment Tonight, “When I told her (Duff) we wanted to get back to work in October [2020], she said, ‘That’s great because I’m having a baby in March.’ And I thought, ‘Oh my god, we really have to stick to this schedule because otherwise, I don’t know what we’re going to do this season. The baby was calling the shots. She gave us the right kind of pressure to make this season happen.”
At first, Star and costume designer Pat Fields were able to conceal Duff’s baby bump with looser fitting outfits, but as her pregnancy — and the season — progressed they had to place “bigger and bigger things” in front of her to hide her growing stomach.
Speaking to Variety, Star said “Hilary was amazing. She was a trooper, beyond. I’m sure it was not comfortable.”
Adorably, Duff’s pregnancy made the already tight-knit Younger set even more of a family affair, with Sutton Foster, who plays Liza Miller, saying, “I have this amazing video of my daughter holding [Duff’s 2-year-old daughter] Banks when she was a little baby and then when Hilary was pregnant this season, my daughter, Emily, was asking her questions about the baby in her belly.
“We’ve all become like this family and it’s beyond what we do on set.”
Hilary is married to musician Matthew Koma with who she shares two daughters, Banks Violet Bair, 2, and Mae James Bair, one month. She also has a son Luca Cruz Comrie, 9, with her first husband Mike Comrie.
The seventh and final season of Younger is streaming now on Stan with new episodes weekly.
