John Legend reflects on the trauma of losing son Jack and admits he will ‘always feel that loss’

John Legend felt ‘broken’ in the wake of he and wife Chrissy Teigen tragically losing their son Jack when the model was 20 weeks pregnant in September 2020. 

The musician, 43, reflected on the heartbreaking trauma and said he will ‘always feel that loss’ – explaining although the death of the couple’s baby ‘doesn’t feel as heavy’ as time goes on, he still finds ‘no real comfort’ in the situation.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs, he said: ‘You feel broken. There’s no real comfort and you’re always going to feel that loss. 

‘It kind of spreads over time, so it doesn’t feel as heavy, but you’ll never forget it.’ 

The Grammy Award-winning star admitted he was initially ‘hesitant’ to share pictures of Jack after he had passed away, but praised wife Chrissy, 36, for making a ‘really powerful, wise decision’ to open up about their loss to the world.

He said: ‘I was hesitant to share it, but I think Chrissy was really right. Way more people than anybody realises go through this and they think they are alone.

‘It was a really powerful, wise decision by Chrissy to share it.’ 

Chrissy and John announced last week that they are expecting their third child, almost two years after tragically losing Jack when she was 20 weeks pregnant. 

The model announced the happy news of the couple’s rainbow baby on Instagram on Wednesday.

Chrissy – who also has daughter Luna, six, and son Miles, four, with John – admitted the last few years ‘have been a blur of emotions’ following the loss of Jack and their subsequent battle to conceive via IVF.

Alongside an image of her baby bump, she wrote: ‘The last few years have been a blur of emotions to say the least, but joy has filled our home and hearts again. 

‘1 billion shots later (in the leg lately, as u can see!) we have another on the way.’

The model said while it has been tough to keep her pregnancy a secret for so long, she was understandably ‘very nervous’ about every appointment or scan she attended because of her past heartbreak. 

In spite of her nerves, the star rejoiced in feeling ‘hopeful and amazing’ as she navigates her journey to motherhood.

Chrissy added: ‘Every appointment I’ve said to myself, ‘ok if it’s healthy today I’ll announce’ but then I breathe a sigh of relief to hear a heartbeat and decide I’m just too nervous still. 

‘I don’t think I’ll ever walk out of an appointment with more excitement than nerves but so far, everything is perfect and beautiful and I’m feeling hopeful and amazing. Ok phew it’s been very hard keeping this in for so long!’

The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit model showed off her baby bump with a mirror selfie, posing in her walk-in closet in a black crop top and sheer high-waisted Gucci hotpants. 

In February, Chrissy – who hit one year of sobriety last month – confirmed to her 37 million followers that she was going through the IVF process in the hope of conceiving again. 

‘I humbly beg you to stop asking if I’m pregnant because I am the opposite of pregnant!’ she wrote on Instagram at the time.

She continued: ‘I posted about it in my stories, but I wanted to let you guys know I’m balls deep in another IVF cycle to save as many eggos as I possibly can and hopefully make some strong, healthy embryos.’ 

Chrissy went on to express her frustration with the procedure as she noted: ‘I honestly don’t mind the shots…they make me feel like a doctor/chemist… but the bloating is a b**ch.

‘I humbly beg you to stop asking if I’m pregnant because while I know it’s said with excited, good intentions, it just kind of sucks to hear because I am the opposite of pregnant! But also like please stop asking people, anyone, if they’re pregnant.

‘I said this in the comments and got yelled at because the internet is wild but I’d rather be the one to tell you and not some poor woman who will look you in the eyes through tears and that’s how you finally learn.’ 

In September 2020, Chrissy and John tragically lost their third child, a baby boy named Jack, 20 weeks into her pregnancy.

Chrissy shared the heartbreaking news with her Instagram followers shortly after the horrific experience, and posted photos of herself in the hospital mourning the loss of her child.

Not long afterwards, she revealed she would be unable to carry a child again.

‘I love being pregnant, so so much, and I’m sad I never will be again,’ she posted on Instagram.

Despite the loss, Chrissy expressed gratitude for her other two children, both of whom were both conceived via IVF. 

‘I’m so lucky for that,’ she told People last year. ‘I just think of it in terms of how blessed I am already, and also there are so many ways to have a child nowadays … whether it’s surrogacy or adoption. 

‘Coming to terms with not being able to carry again is still really difficult for me because I feel so healthy. I’m like, why?

‘But then I think about it as my uterus is just not cooperating with me – and it’s not a failure.’

John previously said in an interview with The Guardian after the couple’s tragic loss: ‘It was a tragedy.

‘But I think it strengthened our resolve and our resilience because we were there for each other. We came out even more sure of who we were as a couple and as a family.

‘It was raw, sharing our experience. I was worried but our instinct was to do it because people knew we were pregnant and Chrissy felt like she needed to tell the story completely about what happened.

‘Also, we found out how many other families have gone through this. It was a powerful and brave thing that Chrissy did to share that because it made so many people feel like they were seen and that they weren’t alone.’