E! Exclusive; Jennifer Garner's New 'Alias': Mommy

E! Exclusive; Jennifer Garner's New 'Alias': Mommy

LOS ANGELES, May 7 /PRNewswire/ -- "Alias" star is expecting her first child, E! Online and E! News have confirmed.

Multiple sources close to Garner and beau Ben Affleck say the actress is three months along. News of the pregnancy comes just two weeks after several published reports claimed the couple were engaged.

According to E! Online columnist Ted Casablanca, Affleck flew Garner's kin from West Virginia to California in April for his leading lady's 33rd birthday party. The question subsequently was popped in private, Casablanca reported.

At the time Affleck's rep described said reports as "garbage." There was no immediate comment from either actor's camp Saturday on Garner's pregnancy or whether a ceremony was in the offing.

Despite having a baby on board, Garner is still keeping to her schedule this summer. Her next big-screen project, Columbia Pictures' romantic drama, "Catch and Release," begins its two-month shoot next week in Vancouver. The film costars Kevin Smith, Juliette Lewis and Timothy Olyphant and marks the directorial debut of "Erin Brockovich" screenwriter Susannah Grant.

But Garner's November due date could prove tricky for the "Alias" brain trust. While ABC's spy thriller is wrapped for the season (the finale airs May 25), the show has been picked up for the fall and is slated to resume production in July. Now, producers must decide how to deal with Garner's pregnancy, either by incorporating it into the show (remember, Sydney's eggs were harvested last season) or just try to hide it. Then again, considering the show's sky-high slinky outfit-to-episode ratio, a burgeoning belly would be hard to conceal. Further complicating matters, Garner performs most of her own stunts.

Affleck, 32, and Garner costarred on screen together before coupling off -- he was Daredevil to her Elektra in 2003's "Daredevil." He also cameoed with her in this year's "Elektra."

They finally went public with their much-rumored romance last fall at the World Series, when she was spotted snuggling Red Sox diehard Affleck at Boston's Fenway Park. Their pairing was alternately dubbed Garfleck and Bennifer II.

But unlike the original Bennifer tandem of Affleck and Jennifer Lopez, the all-new edition prefers to fly under the radar. The World Series appearance aside, Garner and Affleck have generally managed to eschew being photographed together at red-carpet events.

Garner was previously married to "Felicity" costar Scott Foley. They split in 2003, and their divorce was finalized in March 2004. They didn't have any children.

The never-wed Affleck previously was engaged to Lopez. That relationship ended with the scuttling of their September 2003 nuptials.

For continuing updates on this story tune in to "E! News" on Monday, May 9 at 7PM ET/PT, and go to http://www.eonline.com/ .

Based in Los Angeles, E! Networks is the world's largest producer and distributor of entertainment news and lifestyle-related programming. The company operates E! Entertainment Television, the 24-hour network with programming dedicated to the world of entertainment; The Style Network, where life gets a new look, and E! Online, located at Eonline.com. E! is currently available to 85 million cable and direct broadcast satellite subscribers in the U.S. The Style Network currently counts 38 million subscribers with commitments to reach over 40 million.

Source: E! Networks

CONTACT: Chris Delhomme, +1-323-692-4732, fax: +1-323-954-2662, cdelhomme@eentertainment.com, for E! Networks

Web site: http://www.eonline.com/

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