Kevin Mazur/WireImage.comYou can't always believe everything you read. But when the rumor is as persistent and unkillable as the one about Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon expecting twins, you start to wonder if there's a reason why it so steadfastly refuses to die.
Granted, the parents-to-be are partly to blame, when—either through genuine misspeaking or a telling slip of the tongue—Mariah referred to her baby bump as a "they," rather than a "he" or "she."
So then why not issue a firm denial (discounting the free publicity and/or notion that it's no one's business either way)? After all, it isn't as though the duo have been hurting for media opportunities lately.
So, once and for all, is Mariah expecting twins? Straight from the horse's mouth, this rumor is so…
True! Weren't expecting that, were you?
Earlier today, the Santa-denying papa-to-be was getting into the spirit of the season (and possibly trying to work his way back onto Mariah's Santa-loving good side) by handing out toys at a Build-a-Bear Workshop benefiting the Toys for Tots Foundation.
When asked by E! News to clear up the twin rumors, Cannon cryptically referred back to plural pronoun heard round the world.
"It's a touchy issue, because you never want to speak on too much stuff too early, but my wife, at one time, she referred to her stomach as 'they' and that probably wasn't the wrong thing for her to do," he said. "That's all I'm gonna say."
That's probably all he has to.
While it's possible he's just having a little fun with us, something tells us he already got that out of his system (remember Cleophisgate?). Guess we'll find out for sure when the bundle(s) of joy are delivered this spring.
(Originally published Dec. 15, 2010, at 2:02 p.m. PT)