Paloma Faith welcomed her first child with Layman Lahcine in December 2016, after a “difficult” birth experience – but, since then, The Voice star has made a point of keeping her baby’s name and sex out of the headlines.

And now, in a new interview, Faith has now suggested that her reasons for keeping schtum are far more complex than her private life being just that.

In fact, the singer has revealed that she and her partner are raising their child as gender-neutral.

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Faith told The Mirror: “I’m loving being a mum. I want two or three kids in all and they’ll be gender-neutral.”

Insisting she won’t be dressing her children in colours commonly associated with gender – such as pink for girls and blue for boys – she added: “I just want them to be who they want to be.”

Faith previously informed fans that she would be taking some time away from the spotlight during “this very personal time”.

“I really do not want this child to be in the public eye as it won’t have chosen to and I hope everyone can understand that,” she said.

“I am nervous and excited about being a mum and just need to be normal and low-key for a while… I want the baby to have the freedom of a normal life.”

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Faith concluded by saying: “Pregnancy and motherhood is a very personal thing, daunting, new and worrying at times and I don’t want to have to add to it by worrying about having to ‘look’ a certain way when pregnant…

“When I return I will be full of energy and excited to come and sing for you again.”

Images: Rex Features