Mariah Carey has confirmed she is pregnant.

The superstar singer confirmed on NBC's Today show that she and husband Nick Cannon are expecting their first child in the spring.

Mariah had declined to discuss her pregnancy, the subject of rampant speculation for months, until now.

"Yes, we are pregnant, it's true," Mariah told Access Hollywood on US morning show Today. "It's been a long journey, but it's been tough because I've been trying to ... hold on to a shred of privacy, and that was not easy."

Mariah, 40, and Nick, 30, have been the subject of a baby watch since they got married after a whirlwind romance two years ago. They laughed off the rumours when they occurred soon after their wedding. "We thought it was fun, because they kept saying, 'Oh she's pregnant.' Yeah, whatever. So we took the test and it was positive," she said.

But Mariah had a miscarriage soon afterwards. "It was really sad, so we really had to absorb this and take it in," she said.

Nick hailed his wife's strength for being able to laugh in front of the cameras, but later, "crying herself to sleep".

Mariah said the baby was conceived naturally, and added that the couple does not know its sex.

Mariah's announcement comes after Thandie Newton let slip that the star was pregnant. Thandie was asked why she'd taken over Mariah's movie role at the last minute, and she blurted out on live TV: "Oh, I think she's pregnant."

The English actress stars alongside Janet Jackson and Whoopi Goldberg in the film adaptation of Ntozake Shange's 1975 play For Coloured Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf.