Georgia [US], August 10 : American singer-songwriter Lauren Alaina opened up about issues related to her weight and eating habits in the latest episode of ‘Bachelorette’ star Hannah Brown's ‘Better Tomorrow’ podcast, reported People.
“I started having problems with [an] eating disorder in middle school and then in tenth grade, I go on 'American Idol',” Alaina admitted. “And I was in my very awkward, chubby phase.”
During the conversation, the ‘Don’t Judge a Woman’ singer revealed her “biggest criticism” at the time came from high school girls. It only intensified once she appeared on “national television,” as per People.
Alaina added, “I was always confident on the stage; the one thing I wasn’t confident [about] was my weight, probably my whole life.”
During her 2011 run on American Idol, she received an overwhelming amount of backlash about her body as she was shifting “between a teenager and a woman.”
“People commented a lot on my weight… What kind of evil humans can comment on a 16-year-old child is beyond me now. But as that 16-year-old child, it got very bad for a while,” Alaina recalled. “I suffered with such a severe eating disorder in those years where nothing was connecting. It wasn’t only because [I needed] to work hard, I lost who I was completely. Everything - my light... it was dimmed quite a bit because of the TV aspect.”
At one point, she recalled an outlet adding a fake “pig nose” to her face and calling her “Miss Piggy.” During that time, she thought being selected as the TV show’s fan favourite would boost her esteem, but the negative commentary chipped away at her. “It was an extreme high and an extreme low and I got sick… I struggled very, very bad with bulimia for a very long time,” the Georgia native shared, reported People.
Alaina further shared that her 2019 appearance on ‘Dancing With the Stars’ helped her to “start going to therapy for it again” since she would be back in the public eye. For the time being, she says she is "happy and healthy" as long as she is outperforming, engaging with fans, and producing songs. According to the "Doin' Fine" singer, "things are very positive" for her right now.
“There are so many people who have eating disorders or who body shame themselves every day or have some sort of insecurity, and I feel like I have a direct reach to some of those people,” Alaina exclusively told People in February 2017. She also admitted what life-changing revelation made her realize it was time to seek professional help. “I had really bad polyps on my vocal cords, and I’ve had them since I was a kid, but the bulimia made it 10 times worse. They were bleeding constantly and it was straining on my voice. And just the lack of nutrition, my vocal cords couldn’t keep up because I was so unhealthy.”
Not correcting the issue could have been the end of her career as a country singer. “That was the first time it clicked for me,” Alaina confessed. “It wasn’t my hair falling out, it wasn’t my bones sticking out too much — it was my voice. When they told me that my voice was going to go away, that really got to me. Had I not gotten better, I may not have this album now, I may not have this music. I can’t even imagine. I don’t know what I would do,” reported People.
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