Pregnant Serena Williams has poked fun at her sister Venus Williams’ reaction to the tennis star’s gender reveal prank.
Serena, 41, took to her TikTok on Tuesday 1 August to share a snippet of her latest YouTube video, where she documented a “baby shower slash gender reveal” event for her second child, who she’s expecting with husband Alexis Ohanian. The pair also share a five-year-old daughter, Olympia.
In the TikTok clip, Serena could be seen cutting into a cake, with the expectation that the sponge of the cake would be blue or pink, in order to indicate what the baby’s gender.. A voice in the background could also be heard saying: “Is Olympia going to be a big sister to a boy or a girl?”
The video then zoomed in a shot of Venus, as she was jumping up and down in preparation to hear if she was going to have a niece or nephew. However, as Venus was clapping and bending down to get a closer view of the cake, it was then revealed that the inside of the dessert was actually yellow, as opposed to either of the expected colours.
Venus went on to respond to the gender reveal prank by opening her mouth in confusion. The TikTok clip ended with a zoomed-in snap of Venus’s puzzled look, alongside a display of scientific equations.
In the caption, Serena went on to applaud her sister’s reaction, writing: “The greatest part of the reveal was watching #venuswilliams in the background.”
Many fans in the comments of the TikTok clip, which has more than 4m views, also poked fun at Venus’ response to the prank.
“Why y’all did Venus like this??!!” one viewer jokingly quipped, while another added: “Her reaction was priceless !”
A third wrote: “Venus’ footwork is still on point!”
In Serena’s initial YouTube video, Ohanian opened up about his decision to pull the prank at the party, explaining that he got a “basic” cake to “troll” Serena and Olympia.
“She will cut into this cake, probably be disappointed, and hopefully appreciate my troll,” he said. “But we’ll see. I don’t know if she’ll be a professional about it. She might see this cake come out, roll her eyes and say: ‘This guy had one job and he gave me a godd*** cake gender reveal’. There’s a reveal after the reveal.”
After Serena cut the decoy cake and discovered the inside was yellow, she jokingly attempted to squash a slice onto Ohanian’s face. The Reddit founder then led his wife onto the grounds to look up at the sky, where he had arranged for a drone display to create the actual gender reveal. The drones built up the suspense, before revealing that the couple are expecting another girl.
At the Met Gala in May, the Grand Slam winner first revealed that she was expecting her second child. As she walked the red carpet, alongside her husband, Serenca showcased her bump in a black long-sleeves dress, with a deep neckline and a white fluffy skirt.
She also celebrated the news on Instagram at the time, writing: “Was so excited when Anna Wintour invited the three of us to the Met Gala.”
Serena’s pregnancy announcement came months after she revealed that she was retiring from tennis. In an essay for Vogue last year, she wrote that she was leaving the sport to focus on her family, noting that her daughter often expressed that she wanted to be a big sister.
“Believe me, I never wanted to have to choose between tennis and a family,” she wrote. “I don’t think it’s fair. If I were a guy, I wouldn’t be writing this because I’d be out there playing and winning while my wife was doing the physical labour of expanding our family.
She continued: “Don’t get me wrong: I love being a woman and I loved every second of being pregnant with Olympia… But I’m turning 41 this month and something’s got to give.”
