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Update: In September 2019, Sam Smith announced that they use they/them pronouns. This content was written in March 2019 before Smith publicly announced their pronouns.
Sam Smithopened up about his struggles with body image in a new interview withJameela Jamil, the founder of the “I Weigh” movement.
The singer (who haspreviously opened upabout his struggles with body image) said that he wanted to do the interview to bring attention to body image issues in men.
“I haven’t really found many men talking about this,” Smith said. “Especially well-known men… Even doing this chat feels kind of weird, because guys don’t speak about this that much on a big scale.”
“I had breasts,” Smith said.
“I used to get my mom to write a note to the school when I was like 8 so I wouldn’t have to go to swimming lessons. So it’s something that’s been in me forever,” the singer added.
RELATED VIDEO: Jameela Jamil Reveals She Developed Seizures After Trying to Eat a Cookie off the Floor
Smith also revealed that he had liposuction at the age of 12.
“I had liposuction, I was 12 years old,” Smith continued. “At the time I think I was very happy about it. It didn’t really change anything. I think I put the weight back on in two weeks because I hadn’t figured out my relationship with food, so it didn’t really change anything. But being 12 years old and having liposuction on your chest is quite a big deal.”
Smith added that the body image issues persisted beyond his childhood.
“It’s the basis of all my sadness,” he said. “Literally everything I’ve ever been sad about is my weight. I struggle with it every day.”
“I get very, very dark and very sad,” Smith continued.
On Friday, Smith tweeted that doing the interview with Jamil “completely changed” his life.
In February, Smith opened up about his “body trauma” in anemotional Instagram post.
“In the past if I have ever done a photoshoot with so much as a t-shirt on, I have starved myself for weeks in advance and then picked and prodded at every picture and then normally taken the picture down,” he wrote.
“Yesterday I decided to fight the f— back,” he continued. “Reclaim my body and stop trying to change this chest and these hips and these curves that my mum and dad made and love so unconditionally.”
source: people.com
