Jessica Simpson Proud Of Pregnant, Nude Elle Cover: ‘I’ve Never Felt More Beautiful’

Jessica Simpson's pregnant and nude cover of Elle magazine has become quite the sensation. Even though Jessica Simpson was not the first celebrity to pose in the buff while with child (remember Demi Moore on Vanity Fair's August 1991?), her cover certainly seems to be garnering the most publicity.

Maybe the buzz generated from the fact that Jessica Simpson has kept her pregnancy and her relationship with fiancé Eric Johnson largely under wraps since she first began dating him in May 2010. The 31-year-old revealed her pregnancy in October after paparazzi had many shot multiple photos of her sporting a baby bump.

The pregnant and nude Elle cover opened the world to Simpson's private life again, something she was very comfortable with when filming Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica for MTV in 2003.

Jessica Simpson's nude photo has faced an influx of criticism from multiple angles - her weight, her never-ending pregnancy, her tarnished Christian values and the hackneyed nude/pregnant pose.

Here's a pregnant Jessica Simpson posing nude for the April issue of Elle if posing nude means they de-jowled her head and slapped it on Demi Moore's body because it was cheaper than airbrushing out nacho cheese burns, wrote The Superficial.

Many asked just how long this pregnancy has gone on: I feel like Jessica Simpson has been pregnant for over a year, tweeted user Vanessa Ratnavich. Is it just me or has Jessica Simpson been pregnant for 17 months now? questioned user @marymkeane.

Whether or not Simpson is a copycat, many still feel that the pose is inappropriate. What has complicated matters further is that Simpson was raised with a strong Christian background, wrote the Christian Post. Her father was a youth minister and she began singing at a local Baptist church. She was also first signed to a gospel music group label.

Other arguments were a bit more refined, like the critique from the Dallas Observer that said: Why do we feel the need to sexualize expectant (and non-expectant) pop stars this way, and in the same exact pose as Demi Moore and Britney Spears, no less. Have we not evolved past that? Why are women with some level of success forever relegated to the same cliché poses?

But, the mommy-to-be does is not listening to all the faultfinders.

On Wednesday, when the pregnant and nude Elle cover was first unveiled, Jessica Simpson tweeted:

In a behind-the-scenes interview with Elle magazine, the singer and fashion mogul went on to describe her renewed self-confidence even further.

I'm loving every moment of it, I have to admit, she said. It's funny because I feel more comfortable in a bikini now when I'm pregnant than when I was before. I've become like a nudist or something. I don't know; I just celebrate my body so much more.

Simpson said that when she wore a bikini in her younger years, she used to draw on abs with eyeliner. I would not suggest people do that, 'cause it's not cute. You could tell somebody did it, she said laughing.

The blonde beauty might have a tough time breaking her pregnancy eating habits, which started with salted cantaloupe and have moved onto cheesecake.

Now cantaloupe is fine, but we have moved onto cheesecake, she said. I had cheesecake for breakfast this morning. Lunch? No. I had fried chicken.