The 41-year-old Taiwanese actress-host told Apple Daily she was seven weeks pregnant and worried “because my body can’t really take it, I’m too old”.

She and her husband, Wang Xiaofei, 36, had conceived the child “in a very unlikely situation, and we all think it’s Heaven’s will”, she said.

The couple welcomed her firstborn, daughter Xiyue, in 2014 and second child, son Xilin (pictured), in 2016. Barbie had previously said she would not have a third child.

In fact, she said she and her husband had reached a consensus that he would have a vasectomy.

“I’m not rushing him into it. This is also a major life event. We’re considering whether to have the surgery in Beijing or Taiwan,” she was quoted as saying at the opening ceremony of her husband’s S Hotel last June.

The mainland businessman and restaurant tycoon heir opened the Philippe Starck-designed boutique hotel in Taipei, which he has dedicated to and named after his wife.

Converted from a rented building, S Hotel has more than 100 rooms in Starck’s white modern style, with bathrobes, bed linen and other amenities chosen by Barbie.

It has a Nordic restaurant by Michelin-starred chef Mikkel Maarbjerg and, in the lobby, there are photos of Barbie and her younger sister, television host Dee “Little S” Hsu, Apple Daily said.

The couple reportedly registered their marriage after going on four dates in 20 days in November 2010 and held their wedding celebration in February 2011.

Barbie has been putting her career on hold after she became a mum, but she still regularly updates her fans on her everyday life through her social media platforms.

“The lesson I’ve learned from this pregnancy is that people really can’t be too tee kee,” she said on Wednesday, using a Hokkien expression for headstrong.

“After I had my second child, I said I would never have another one, but I became pregnant after I lost weight. I can’t say such tee kee words anymore.”