Kerry Washington on Why She Chose to Reveal Her Baby Bump at the Met Gala

When Washington hit the Met Gala red carpet in May, one accessory stood out more than the rest: a brand new baby bump

When Kerry Washington hit the Met Gala red carpet in May, one accessory stood out more than the rest: a brand new baby bump.

The red-carpet moment served as Washington’s confirmation that she and her husband, former San Francisco 49ers cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha, are expecting their second child together.

Why use the star-studded night for her big reveal? Washington tells PEOPLE in this week’s issue that she was keeping with her and Asomugha’s famously private approach to talking about their family (they also share daughter Isabelle Amarachi, 2).

“I hadn’t been public about it [before then],” the Scandal star, 39, says. “I still haven’t made a statement about it because it’s not really how we roll in my family. I knew by the Met Gala [in May] that I wouldn’t be able to hide [my pregnancy].”

Larry Busacca/Getty

Want all the latest pregnancy and birth announcements, plus celebrity mom blogs? Click here to get those and more in the PEOPLE Babies newsletter.

And Washington did the opposite of hide it, rubbing her growing belly over her fabulous sequined Marc Jacobs gown that featured a thigh-high slit.

“The idea that my bump made its debut at the Metropolitan Museum of Art is pretty fun,” the actress says.

Related Video: Did You Know Kerry Washington Does a Spot on Tina Turner Impression?

Washington reveals she’s also saved some of her daughter’s baby clothes, on the off chance she’ll be the mother of two little girls.

“I also really like to share, you know? I like to spread the love,” she adds. “My girlfriends have their own kids, so, yeah.”

For more from Kerry Washington, pick up the newest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday.

— Lindsay Kimble with reporting by Jackie Fields