Netizens wonder if actress Fan Bingbing is pregnant, after she is seen with a little extra round her waist

It is often hard to tell - is she pregnant or just plump?

This week, many netizens are asking this question of Chinese actress Fan Bingbing, after the 38-year-old was spotted at the airport, with a little extra around the waist.

Fan, who was hit by a tax-evasion scandal last year, was seen at the Beijing Capital International Airport on Wednesday (Dec 4). Media reports said she was flying to Los Angeles for dubbing work on the Hollywood movie 355, which she stars in together with Jessica Chastain, Penelope Cruz, Lupita Nyong'o and Diane Kruger.

In photos widely shared online, Fan was seen wearing a black jacket over a white T-shirt at the airport, but it was her bulging stomach which caught the attention of the netizens, who wondered if Fan was pregnant.

It would not be the first time Fan has been dogged by pregnancy rumours.

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There was speculation of her pregnancy and marriage to then-fiance Li Chen earlier in March, and again in July and August after she broke off with him in late June.

Fan's agency took to China's Twitter-like Weibo on Wednesday night to rebut the latest rumours, as it said in jest: "It's all the fault of a big appetite. Please control your diet when you are working overseas as the food there has higher calories."

Fan's trip to the United States has also cast in doubt previous reports of her being barred from leaving China despite the resolution of her tax scandal.

It was earlier reported too that there was a stand-in actress for Fan during the filming of all-female spy thriller 355 outside China.

This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.