Jenna Dewan Jokes Her Baby Bump Got ‘Too Big’ to Hide During ‘The Rookie’ Filming: ‘They Gave Up’ (Exclusive)

Jenna Dewan became part of the “actresses who hid a pregnancy on set” while pregnant with her third baby in 2024 — and it was a challenge for The Rookie’s costume team.

“Oh my god, well I got so big at the end, they just put me under the covers in the bed because I think they all gave up,” Dewan, 44, exclusively told Us Weekly on Wednesday, February 19, while attending the LA Art Show Opening Night in Los Angeles.

The actress, who plays firefighter Bailey Nune on The Rookie, recalled hiding “behind counters” and wearing a “lot of crossbody bags” filming season 6 of the ABC series.

“There was a lot of Amazon packages being carried or plants. I remember … a lot of [it] being in the car,” Dewan said. “I mean, honestly the wardrobe deserves an Emmy just for that alone. I kept growing and growing and growing, and [they were] finding unique ways to set up scenes.”

Dewan announced in January 2024 that she was pregnant with her third baby, her second with fiancé Steve Kazee. By March of that year, the actress revealed that getting dressed on set was a “workout of sorts,” sharing Instagram videos from her trailer for fans to see her growing baby bump.

“I was just happy when I was in a fitting and we put on a sweater or some shirt and we would all gasp and go, ‘OMG! You can’t even tell,’” she told Us of the experience. “It was nice to not rely on purses and boxes and plants, when the sweater, you know, feels concealing, it’s nice to find these easy to wear outfits.”

Dewan remembered that “sometimes it would work” and other times they would “have to be more creative.” She joked, “Depending on how much breakfast I ate that morning, there was like, you know, you really had to play around with it.”

Dewan finished out season 6 pregnant, giving birth to daughter Rhiannon in June 2024. (She and Kazee, 49, also share son Callum, 4. Dewan and ex-husband Channing Tatum share her eldest child, daughter Everly, 11.)

After welcoming Rhiannon, Dewan took about two months off before The Rookie started filming season 7. While she no longer had to hide her baby bump, Dewan said there were challenges to having a newborn on set.

“It was a juggle, she was 7 almost 8 weeks and I brought her to set with me,” Dewan recalled, giving the producers and show creators a shout-out for being “incredible” and giving her “breaks to just run back” to nurse.

She remembered timing her breaks “around turnarounds and scenes [where she] would breastfeed or they would come up to me with Rhiannon and I would breastfeed her.”

Although it was “crazy” at times, Dewan said they all just made it work. “It is one of those things you don’t really know when you’re in it, you are just doing it,” she shared. “Afterwards you’re like, ‘How did I do that?’”

Looking back, Dewan told Us it didn’t feel rushed, and she was ready to return to set.

“There was a part of me, where going back to work, I think, turns your brain on in a way post-baby that is good,” she explained. “You kind of break the brain fog for a minute, you feel like yourself slowly but surely.”

The actress said she was “able to get hair and makeup done and feel back in my character,” adding that she felt “lucky” to bring Rhiannon along for the ride.

“Getting to have her close is a luxury I know not every woman has and I was grateful for that and I just felt it helped me get back,” Dewan continued, confessing, “There [were] days where I was obviously exhausted, but luckily it is an ensemble show so I am not in every single scene, every single day, so I did get a lot of breaks.”

The Rookie airs on ABC Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET.

With reporting by Sienna Leone