Even within her inner circle, Reese Witherspoon remained tight-lipped about her third pregnancy.

During an appearance on E!'s Chelsea Lately Dec. 25, the 36-year-old Academy Award winner was put on the spot when host Chelsea Handler asked her bluntly, "How did you get pregnant?"

"Umm . . . " Witherspoon replied, giggling. "I don't know. How do you think I got pregnant? Do you want to talk about this later? We don't have to talk about it right now."

Without missing a beat, Handler replied, "We don't have to talk about it now -- but I would prefer to!"

The comedienne, 37, then informed the audience that while her BFF and This Means War costar was pregnant, Witherspoon "wouldn't tell me if she was having a boy or girl.

At one point, Handler added, Witherspoon nearly spilled the beans via text message. "Then you said, 'I'm pretty sure someone's reading our texts,' and I said, 'Please don't text me again because I don't want to be blamed," the Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea author recalled. "Then you had the baby and you named it Tennessee and I still couldn't figure out if it was a boy or a girl."

Witherspoon laughed loudly and added, "Or just a redneck!"

Calling her newborn son "super cute," Witherspoon praised her daughter, Ava, for being a hands-on big sister: "She's 13 and so awesome!"

Witherspoon and her husband, CAA agent Jim Toth, 41, welcomed Tennessee Sept. 27. The Devil's Knot actress is also mom to son Deacon, 8, from her marriage to Ryan Phillippe**.

This article originally appeared on Usmagazine.com: Reese Witherspoon Jokes: Tennessee Is a "Redneck" Name