Naomi Campbell ‘is living in America with a supportive secret boyfriend’

Naomi Campbell is reportedly living in America with her secret boyfriend – who will help her raise her first child after announcing she has become a mother.

The supermodel, 50, revealed that she is the mother to a baby girl by releasing a picture on her Instagram page on Tuesday afternoon.

Friends close to the star have told how she is in a ‘wonderful place’ and how it finally felt like the ‘perfect time’ to become a parent.   

A source told the Sun: ‘Naomi has really mellowed in the past year and is in a wonderful place in life.

‘She has been living in America with her boyfriend and is really happy. It finally felt like the ­perfect time to become a mother and she is over the moon.

‘The first lockdown allowed her to stop and take stock of the important things and she decided now was the time to properly look into starting a family.’

Naomi reportedly recently told her team that she wants to quit working over weekends, just weeks before making her baby announcement. 

MailOnline has contacted Naomi’s representatives for further comment.  

Friends of the catwalk icon, who is living in New York, told the Daily Mail that she used a surrogate to welcome her daughter.

Naomi surprised her Instagram followers on Tuesday as she shared a picture cradling her newborn daughter and stated she has never felt a ‘greater love’.

She did not disclose the method in which she welcomed her daughter, but four years ago credited science with giving her an opportunity to start a family ‘whenever she wants’, suggesting she was leaning towards using a surrogate.

Offering a first look at her new arrival with a picture of her baby girl, whose name has not been revealed, Naomi penned: ‘A beautiful little blessing has chosen me to be her mother.

‘So honoured to have this gentle soul in my life there are no words to describe the lifelong bond that I now share with you my angel. There is no greater love.’ 

The model gave no further details in the post. 

Naomi was last in a relationship with rapper Skepta in 2018 but enjoyed a fling with Liam Payne the following year. he has also enjoyed high-profile relationships with the likes of Diddy, Robert De Niro, Mike Tyson and Russian billionaire Vladislav Doronin over the years. 

Although she is notoriously private about her love life, she has previously stated she is ‘on good terms’ with her exes and is not believed to be dating anyone new at present.  

Naomi kept her baby news a secret from the world, but her mother Valerie Morris-Campbell shared her thoughts on the arrival, saying she was ‘beyond thrilled’.  

Sharing the same picture, she posted: ‘Congratulations to my daughter Naomi on the birth of her daughter, I’m beyond thrilled as I’ve waited a longtime to be grandmother. ❤️ @naomi #proud #mother #grandmother #love #family’.

Naomi then commented on the snap: ‘We love you Mum ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️’   

Naomi’s baby announcement comes after she admitted that she would ‘think about having children all the time’ but wasn’t planning to rush herself to start a family.

Speaking to ES Magazine back in 2017, she said: ‘I think about having children all the time. But now with the way science is I think I can do it when I want.’

Asked if she would have the child herself rather than adopt, she replied: ‘Maybe. Maybe… Maybe.’ 

However, the Vogue cover girl insisted that she did not want to be a single parent so would find a suitable partner first.  

She said: ‘I do want a father figure. I think it’s important. It’s the way I feel today, sitting here talking to you.’ 

In another interview she admitted: ‘I want the same things as every other woman: the house, the kids, the lot.’  

The following year she told Vogue magazine that she would ‘love’ to have a child and wouldn’t rule anything out for the future. 

She explained: ‘I’d love to have kids. I don’t discount anything in life. I love kids and always will.

‘When I’m around children, I become a child myself. That’s the little girl I don’t ever want to lose.’

Despite continuously expressing a desire to have children in the years prior, she then said that she was ‘not ready’ for motherhood in 2019.  

Asked if she would have any kids, the model, then 49, told Metro: ‘Not yet… I’ll see what the universe brings me. For now, what the universe has delivered is very much in the spirit of a chosen family.’

She made the statement shortly after she broke off a fling with One Direction star Liam Payne, 27. 

The same year she was also forced to deny claims she had adopted a child after fans got the wrong end of the stick when she posted a picture cradling a newborn baby on Instagram on Mother’s Day. 

Despite the outpouring of congratulations, Naomi’s representative revealed that she hadn’t adopted and the picture had been taken when Naomi visited an orphanage for abandoned children in Lagos.  

Prior to dating boyband singer Liam, Naomi was in a relationship with grime artist Skepta, 38.   

The couple reportedly dated for around five months in 2018, with the rapper even referencing her in the song Interlude, claiming she wore sexy underwear for him during a video call.

He penned: ‘How can I fall asleep when I’m on this FaceTime with Nao… shh. She got them ­Victoria Secrets that she’s tryna show me.’

In August 2018, Naomi unfollowed Skepta after he posted a baby scan on Instagram, leading fans to question whether or not they might be expecting. 

Skepta welcomed daughter River the following year but has never revealed who the baby’s mother is.  

Neither Liam or Skepta have spoken out publicly on Naomi’s baby news.  

Although fans were left reeling, Naomi’s celebrity pals were quick to congratulate her on the happy news.

Singer Rita Ora, 30, said: ‘No one deserves this more’ while actress Zoe Saldana, 42, commented: ‘Oh my goodness congrats lady! What a blessing!!’

Designer Marc Jacobs, 58, appeared to have some inclination that Naomi was to become a mum, writing: ‘Oh my God!!!! Today is the day?? How absolutely incredible. How lucky she is and how lucky you are! What a wonderful mother you will be. Blessings all around.

Game of Thrones actress Sophie Turner, 25, simply commented a love heart on Naomi’s heartwarming post while Jamie Winstone, 36, said: ‘Wow congratulations Naomi. BIG, BIG LOVE, wow you’re a Mama.’

British Vogue editor Edward Enninful, 49, appeared overwhelmed by Naomi’s news, but also hinted the model’s post may not have been the first time he’s seen the new mum and her daughter together.

He said: ‘Seeing the two of you together made my year. You will bring each other so much joy @naomi.’   

Naomi previously hinted at her joyous news when she insisted 2021 would be ‘an amazing year’.

Naomi said earlier this year: ‘At the end of 2020, my main reflections were on the need for us to move upward and forward. We have to rise to every challenge and walk through it. 

‘And we will get through it. 2021 is going to be a great year, we’ve just got a few more bumps to get through first. Nothing disappears overnight, but we just need to get through this first quarter. 

‘After that, I believe that this is going to be an amazing year. Actually, I don’t just believe it will be; I feel it will be.’