Paloma Faith is expecting her first child

Paloma Faith has announced that she's pregnant.

The singer, 35, took to Instagram to announce the happy news, telling her 358,000 followers, 'So the good news is that my album is well underway and I am very excited about it.'

'It's actually nearly finished as I type! I have been working with the amazing Jesse Shatkin on it as producer and it has been a real honour.'

'It is called The Architect and is very aptly named as it leads me on to my next announcement. I am so delighted to tell you I am going to take a short while off to have a baby'.

'I have spent my whole life wanting to be a mother and now the time has come for me to do so. I feel so lucky.'

She added that it was for this reason that she would not be returning to BBC1's talent show The Voice as a judge or releasing an album in 2016.

Paloma went on to ask her fans to respect her privacy at this time, adding, '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.'

'I am nervous and excited about being a mum and just need to be normal and low key for a while. Pregnancy and motherhood is a very personal thing: daunting, new and worrying at times, and I don't want to add to it by having to "look" a certain way when pregnant or photographed pregnant or with my child.'

'I wasn't raised like that and I don't want my child to be. I want the baby to have the freedom of a normal life,' she said.

She concluded by thanking them for their ongoing support. 'I am grateful for your understanding and promise to return fully fledged when I have had this moment of solitude and new life. I am beyond happy about it.'

In March 2016, Paloma opened up about her desire to start a family with boyfriend Leyman Lahcine.

'Leyman is my husband. You don’t need a marriage certificate. He’s part of my hareem! There are seven of them.'

Paloma and Leyman pictured together in June 2015

'We don't argue. We are very similar characters. We respond to things in the same way and just talk about things. If somebody says, "you’ve hurt me" I say "I'm really sorry I didn’t mean to".'

'I'm not ever saying no to marriage... and I've wanted a baby since I was 27'.

In a previous interview with The Telegraph, she said of Leyman, 'I’ve never been in a relationship before that’s made me as happy as I am now.'