Culture June 16, 2020

Kelly Clarkson recalls when she felt the most pressure to slim down

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Like so many people, Kelly Clarkson has struggled with body image.

In an interview with British Glamour magazine Clarkson said that she felt the most pressure to lose weight when she was at her thinnest.

At that point, she added, "I was really thin and not super healthy because I was just worn out," and people expected her to project an image that didn't feel authentic.

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"It was more of magazines shoved in front of you and, 'This is what you're competing with and we've got to compete with it.' I can't compete with that," she told the publication. "That's not who I am. That's who they are. We're all different and it's OK. I fought more when I was thinner than I do now, because now I just walk in and I just look at them like, 'I dare you to say something. I'm happy in my life. I'll work on me in my time!'"

Clarkson, 38, who appears as a coach on "The Voice" and hosts her daytime talk show, "The Kelly Clarkson Show," said that for her, weight has not been a barrier career-wise. The mother of River Rose, 6, and Remington Alexander, 4, added that she was hired to be on "The Voice" when she was "at my heaviest point because it was right after I had kids."

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Kelly Clarkson arrives at the 25th Annual Critics' Choice Awards at Barker Hangar on January 12, 2020 in Santa Monica, California.

"They didn't care," she said. "I connect with people and I'm really raw and real. It had nothing to do with my sex appeal or my look aesthetically. It had to do with me as a person."

"I think it's really up to artists to force people to have that mentality," she added.

In 2018, Clarkson revealed that she'd lost weight due to diet changes she'd made to help with an autoimmune disease and a thyroid issue. To get her levels back on track, the singer told "Extra" that she began to eat "really organic" food that was free from pesticides and non-GMO.