TV HOST Marion Caunter is usually the one bringing us the latest entertainment gossip on her show E! Asia News.

But now it's the woman herself who has made headlines.

She announced on last Sunday's episode that she is five months pregnant.

It will be the first child for the 30-year-old Malaysian beauty of Portuguese, English and Chinese descent and her husband SM Nasarudin SM Nasimuddin, 28, who's the joint group executive chairman of Naza Group of Companies.

The business conglomerate is associated with motor trading, automotive franchises and property development and is Malaysia's largest importer of luxury automobiles like Ferrari, Peugeot and Brabus.

The couple got married last December after dating for five years.

Caunter - who also hosted reality TV weightloss series The Biggest Loser Asia 2 - may be glowing like a typical mummy-to-be now, but she didn't have it too good during her first trimester.

She told The New Paper: " I had morning, noon and night sickness!

"It was horrible... I was throwing up and had difficulty in eating and drinking water." She would take an isotonic drink to keep hydrated, but is thankful that she didn't need to be hospitalised.

"It was so bad that I had to take two months leave from the show for myself to recover," she added. It was only during the fourth month of the pregnancy that Caunter felt better and recovered from the symptoms.

She got her appetite back, but is not craving anything in particular.

"I've noticed that I've started having sweet stuff, which I don't normally have a lot of.

"But I'm careful as I don't want to get too big," she added with a chuckle.

Caunter and her husband are based in Kuala Lumpur, but she flies to Singapore once a week to film E!Asia News which she's been co-presenting with Hong Kong-born Dominic Lau since last year.

Both used to be VJs on music channel Channel [V].

Caunter said Lau is "excited" about her pregnancy as they are long-time friends. "He will definitely want to see my kid every now and then, but it's going to be hard because he travels."

As for her future on E! Asia News, the brand ambassador of cosmetics giant Estee Lauder in Malaysia joked: "I'm going to work until the third trimester when I get less attractive."

Plans to resume work

She hopes to return to her hosting duties after her baby arrives in December.

"Every woman takes different periods to recover from the pregnancy (and birth)...Nothing's definite when you're pregnant and having a child,"she added.

Caunter declined to reveal the gender of her unborn child, whom she plans to raise in Kuala Lumpur. "It's secret that I want to keep," she said.

Meanwhile, Caunter has been busy reading pregnancy-related books and websites to prepare for her new role.

She added: "My husband downloaded an iPhone application for me that's great.

"It gives me a weekly update on what to expect during that week in the pregnancy. "There are alerts as to when the baby's due as well.

"But I try not to look at it too much because I might get overly paranoid about being careful with the child and myself."

Caunter would like to have more children in the future as she grew up with older and younger sisters and her husband has five siblings.

"We want our child to have company as well."

About how impending motherhood has changed her, she said: "I don't let the little things get to me anymore. I used to get easily agitated, but now I'm more calm because I don't let unimportant things affect me now.

"Everything's now about taking care of myself and the baby."

This article was first published in The New Paper.