Mindy Kaling's surprise baby: It's not a celebrity first, but quarantine sure makes it easier

"This is news to a lot of people!" Mindy Kaling said when she dropped a huge surprise on Thursday's "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert."

The actress, 41, had given birth to a baby boy named Spencer on Sept. 3 and managed to hide her pregnancy for the last nine months – and for celebrities who spend a fair amount of time in the public eye, that's a pretty bold feat.

Until now. The COVID-19 pandemic has canceled every crowded event and kept the stars isolated at home, making way for the unexpected.

"Mindy Kaling heard 'quarantine' and straight up decided to have another baby in secret. That’s an excellent use of all this at-home time," wrote one fan, @NPuricelli, on Twitter in reaction to the news.

But Kaling certainly isn't the first to shock the public with a new tiny human. Who could forget when Beyonce dropped a bomb at the 2011 Video Music Awards when she turned to the crowd after her performance, opened up her blazer and rubbed her five-month baby bump to share the news she was expecting her first child, Blue Ivy, with Jay-Z?

Sometimes celebrities just show up on the red carpet with a baby bump (we're looking at you Blake Lively) or spill the beans about a new addition in a interview, like when Ellie Kemper confirmed she missed a party "because I'm pregnant and I felt sick." But without red carpets and Zoom interviews from the neck-up, now we are learning of babies well after they arrive.

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Rapper Iggy Azalea revealed in July in an Instagram Story she had become a mom. "I have a son," she wrote. "I kept waiting for the right time to say something, but it feels like the more time passes, the more I realize I'm always going to feel anxious to share news that giant with the world."

Billie Lourd as well as Amanda Seyfried dropped news of their additions in September on Instagram to unsuspecting fans.

And rumors swirled that Jessica Biel and Justin Timberlake welcomed their second child this year. Representatives for the couple have not confirmed the news, but former fellow *NSYNC group member, Lance Bass, told ET, "The baby is cute of course, it's Justin and Jessica!"

Fans don't seem to mind the surprises.

"Celebs hiding pregnancies is low-key way more exciting than announcing it," mused Twitter user SPOOKY SZN INDEED. "Cause it's just like 'hey guys I had a baby' and everyone is like 'you were pregnant?' and just makes for a better story."

Of course, people can become parents through surrogacy and adoption as well. And they still make for welcome surprises. Kristen Wiig opened up to InStyle magazine in August and detailed a heart-wrenching journey with in vitro fertilization. She and Avi Rothman surprised fans with the news they welcomed twins through surrogacy in June.

But Kaling was clear on "The Late Show" that she had been concealing a pregnancy, even though she regularly posts full-length photos of herself to Instagram.

"I’m so confused... how did you get away with posting all these pictures during quarantine/last 9 months but don’t look pregnant in any of them," commented a fan on her latest Instagram post. "No seriously I’m so confused."

"Anyone else going back through all her posts to see how we missed she was pregnant??" another commented.

I guess we will just have to chalk this one up to COVID-19 – and creative photo posts. And we sure hope more pandemic babies are on the way. 2020 owes us more good news.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Mindy Kaling's baby secret: COVID-19 quarantine makes it easier