Beyonce announces she is pregnant with twins

Pop star Beyonce Knowles-Carter has announced via her Instagram account that she and husband Jay Z are expecting twins.

Captioning an image that reveals her baby bump, she writes: "We would like to share our love and happiness. We have been blessed two times over. We are incredibly grateful that our family will be growing by two, and we thank you for your well wishes. - The Carters"

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We would like to share our love and happiness. We have been blessed two times over. We are incredibly grateful that our family will be growing by two, and we thank you for your well wishes. - The Carters

A post shared by Beyoncé (@beyonce) on Feb 1, 2017 at 10:39am PST

The twins will be siblings for Beyoncé and Jay Z's daughter, Blue Ivy Carter, 4.

Since the post was shared it has received 1.7 million likes and more than 97, 000 comments from fans offering support for a healthy pregnancy while others admitted to "screaming in the middle of class" upon seeing the announcement.

Knowles-Carter is known for dramatic pregnancy announcements. When she was pregnant with Blue Ivy, she revealed the news to the world live during the MTV Video Music Awards in 2011. Singing the song Love on Top, Knowles ended the performance by tearing back her jacket to reveal the bump.

The news of her pregnancy will likely come as a relief to fans of her and Carter. Rumours that he had cheated on her and that their marriage was in crisis swarmed the internet last year after Lemonade, the star's visual album, premiered on HBO.

The one-hour production and the lyrics suggested an affair had taken place, with the video for Hold Up showing Knowles angrily destroying property, and the line "Becky with the Good Hair" causing rampant speculation.

Unlike her previous pregnancy, there is no mistaking it this time that the singer is pregnant. Following an interview on Australian television where her stomach appeared to fold, many suspected she was faking her pregnancy with Blue Ivy.

The 35-year-old has not announced a due date and there is no word as to whether the pregnancy will affect her plans to appear at the Grammy Awards later this month.

The singer is up for nine awards, the most nominations this year.