What is it about celebrity culture today that makes us all think we have a right to know absolutely everything about our fave stars? Because some things are, quite frankly, none of our business.

The latest person to find herself at the centre of a speculation storm is singer Perrie Edwards. Some “fans” have taken it upon themselves to proclaim that she is pregnant. The comments sections of her recent TikTok videos are filled with it. “Guys… is she preg?” one person wrote. “Am I sensing baby number 2 is cooking?” another wrote.

This is hardly the first time fans have taken it upon themselves to speculate about someone’s pregnancy. A few years ago, singer Jade Thirlwall found herself inundated with comments speculating that she was expecting. Thirlwall was quick to call it out. “If it were me and I wasn’t sure,” she wrote, “I wouldn’t spend time commenting on someones body when you have no idea what that person’s circumstances might be 🤷🏽‍♀️.”

The constant over-analysis of people’s bodies (particularly women’s bodies) online serves as a reminder that celebrity culture has shifted. As more and more celebs interact with their fans online, it can feel like we are friends with people we’ve never actually met. It’s a phenomenon known as the parasocial relationship. To make things even more complicated, pop culture often actively encourages us to become amateur detectives whose job it is to pry into these people’s lives. Taylor Swift is famous for leaving clues in her work that interweaves the personal and professional. Meanwhile, pop culture accounts like DeuxMoi equate fandom with sleuthing. There’s a general feeling that the more you know about someone’s private life an “lore,” the more you can claim to be a fan of their work.

Chappell Roan went viral last year for calling it out. “I don’t care that abuse and harassment, stalking, whatever, is a normal thing to do to people who are famous… I don’t care that this crazy type of behaviour comes along with the job… that does not make it okay,” she said in one video.

In a world where knowing everything about our favourite celebs is increasingly normalised, it’s important that we sometimes take a step back and reflect on our speculations before they make it to the comment section. Do we have an inherent right to know when someone, anyone is pregnant? No, we don’t. Whether they’re a real friend of a parasocial one, deciding if and when to share the news of a pregnancy is personal – and often pretty sensitive, too. You would never dream of commenting “YOU’RE PREGNANT” on a friend’s Instagram post. So, please, don’t do it to Perrie Edwards, either.