'Great State of Georgia' Star Raven Symone on Fluctuating Weight, and Baby Rumors

Raven on Weight and Those Baby Rumors

June 29, 2011

From "The Cosby Show" to "That's So Raven," child star turned full-grown star Raven Symone is all grown up and ready to tackle a brand new role, and as Symone tells The Insider's Kevin Frazier, she's ready to set the records straight on those pesky internet rumors.

In 2009, the internet went crazy with speculation (complete with baby photos!) that the Disney star had hidden a pregnancy and/or given birth to a daughter. Raven quickly addressed the issue, denying there was any truth to the reports. Looking back on it now, Raven still finds the whole situation "really funny" telling Kevin that the baby purported to be hers looked nothing like her. She explains, "even if I did date someone of Caucasian descent, my baby wouldn't turn out like that."

Symone acknowledges that the pregnancy rumors very likely came as a result of her ever-changing size. "I think because I was big for so long and at certain times and fluctuated so much that that they thought I had baby weight- Just because I was thicker."

Ironically, Raven will wear body padding to make her appear larger for her new show, "State of Georgia." She says she is okay with having to wear the padding for the time being because it is a feature of her character, but feels that eventually she will need to shed the prosthetics because she doesn't like to wear them, and more importantly, "the show shouldn't be about weight."

In the new ABC Family show, Raven plays Georgia, an aspiring actress with ambitions to make it big in New York City. The series is executive-produced by Kirk J. Rudell and Jennifer Weiner, author of the best-selling novels Good in Bed and In Her Shoes. Loretta Devine and Majandra Delfino co-star.

Don't miss "State of Georgia" when it premieres tonight after the summer return of "Melissa & Joey" on ABC Family.