Mariah Carey hid pregnant body from hubby Cannon

By Sabrina Ford | Reuters

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Mariah Carey put on so much weight when she was pregnant with twins that she says she used to hide her body from husband Nick Cannon.

But the Grammy-winning singer has now dropped more than 30 lbs., and has a new job promoting U.S. weight-loss company Jenny.

Carey, 42, joined the weight loss program, formerly known as Jenny Craig, in late July just three months after giving birth to her first children -- twins Moroccan and Monroe.

"I had a lot of issues," Carey said of her pregnancy, which induced high blood pressure and diabetes. "I cooked soul food for Nick through my entire pregnancy," she added.

The first-time mom told a news conference on Wednesday she felt so large at the end of her pregnancy that she avoided learning her weight.

"You see those pictures," she said of the photographs of herself before giving birth in April. "Would you want to know?"

At her heaviest, Carey was so insecure she even wore a towel to cover her body in the bathtub. "You think I would let Nick see me looking rancid like that?" she asked with a laugh.

Twirling for reporters in a red, fitted vintage Halston dress, she said she would like to see herself looking as she did in the music video for her 2008 hit "Touch My Body".

"I'm not there, but I'm trying to get there," she said.

Carey is the latest celebrity to become a spokeswoman for Jenny, following celebrities such as former "Cheers" star Kirstie Alley.

Carey brushed aside rumors of problems between her and her actor/rapper husband of more than three years. The speculation was sparked by a TV interview in October in which Carey said that she trusts Cannon "sometimes."

"Me and Nick are the same team...we've never been better," she said, explaining that some jokes between the couple were cut from the interview.

"Here's the thing, I'm a real person" Carey said, explaining that she didn't want to give a "fake Hollywood" answer in the interview.

"Sometimes I make him mad, sometimes he makes me mad...that's why we aren't divorced after four months."

(Editing by Jill Serjeant and Bob Tourtellotte)

(This story was corrected to delete reference to Jennifer Hudson in paragraph 10)