Who is Ricki Hendrick? Emily Maynard’s daughter announces pregnancy

Ricki Hendrick, the eldest daughter of The Bachelorette alum Emily Maynard Johnson, recently announced her pregnancy. On August 26, the 20-year-old shared a series of Instagram Stories revealing the news.

The first story featured a screenshot of her phone's lock screen, which displayed a photo of her ultrasound. Quoting Huda Mustafa’s famous quote from Love Island USA, Ricki wrote:

"'Netflix told me I'm not allowed to talk about it' - Huda."

In the second slide, Ricki revealed the gender of her baby - a daughter - joking that her "heart is so full," but her stomach is not.

"My heart is so full, yet my stomach is so empty because she hates all food. i'm convinced."

Who is Ricki Hendrick's father?

Emily Maynard met her former fiance, late NASCAR driver Ricky Hendrick, when she was 16 and he was 21, and the couple eventually moved to Charlotte, North Carolina, after Emily graduated. However, Ricky tragically died in a plane crash, just months later, on October 24, 2004. Days after his passing, Emily learned that she was pregnant with their daughter, Ricki.

Opening up about her loss in an interview with People Magazine, Emily said:

"The first couple of years were so hard. I didn’t know if I was coming or going. I was lost. I went to therapists but I knew nothing they would tell me was going to make me feel better. Mine was an issue of the heart that I needed to work out myself. And I knew that time would do that."

Meanwhile, Ricky's mother also opened up about her son's passing at the memorial for the airplane victims on the 20th anniversary of the tragedy. Ricky's mother, Linda, said:

"Looking back 20 years, I remember how much support and love all of you gave to us and continue to. I thank you for that. Thank you for who you are.They say that it’s not what you go through in life, it’s how you get through it. I think there’s a lot of truth to that. There are many choices we can make when we feel like we don’t know which way to go and our life is turned upside down. Nothing is ever hopeless. We always have hope."

In her 2016 book, I Said Yes: My Story of Heartbreak, Redemption, and True Love, Emily explained that she and Ricky were "mad for each other," though their relationship "didn't end well."

She confessed that, in the days following the crash, she wished "she'd died too." However, the birth of her daughter became "kind of my light at the end of the tunnel. ... I just kept on looking forward to June 29th because that was the day I got a piece of Ricky back."

Years later, in 2011, she appeared on The Bachelor, where she met and got engaged to Brad Womack, but they called off their engagement months later. She then returned to The Bachelorette in 2012 and got engaged to Jef Holm in the season finale, though they also ended their relationship within a few months.

After the show, she reconnected with her current husband, Tyler Johnson, and they married in June 2014. The couple has since welcomed five kids: Jennings, Gibson, Gatlin, Nola Belle, and Jones.

"It’s silly, but going to a restaurant and saying, 'Family of four' is so exciting to me. Forever I thought it was going to be just me and Ricki. To see Ricki playing with Jennings and seeing her feel so loved is really cool for me. My life is exactly what I wanted so many years ago," Emily told People Magazine.

It is worth noting that Ricki Hendrick has not revealed the name of her unborn daughter's father yet.