Paloma Faith is pregnant.

Writing on her blog on Monday, she said: "I am so delighted to tell you I am going to take a short while off to have a baby. I have spent my whole life wanting to be a mother and now the time has come for me to so I feel so lucky."

And, although she's spent a large proportion of her latter life in the public eye, the flame-haired beauty is adamant she wants to keep her unborn child away from the spotlight.

She explained: "I hope that you will respect my new family with our privacy in a time which should be calm and without anxiety. I really do not want this child to be in the public eye as it won't have chosen to and I hope everyone can understand that."

The 35-year-old singer has also asked her fans not to criticise her pregnancy body as she doesn't want the added stress.

She said: "I am nervous and excited about being a mum and just need to be normal and low key for a while.

"Pregnancy and motherhood is a very personal thing: daunting, new and worrying at times and I don't want to add to it by having to 'look' a certain way when pregnant or be photographed pregnant of with my child.

"I wasn't raised like that and I don't want my child to be. I want the baby to have the freedom of a normal life."

Meanwhile, although she's taking some time off to focus on her unborn baby - whose due date remains a mystery - Paloma is adamant she'll return "full of energy" next year.

She said: "I am grateful for your understanding and promise to return fully fledged when I have this moment of solitude and new life. I am beyond happy about it."