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Nicole Scherzinger discusses low self-esteem: I thought I was fat and not worthy

The singer said writing and recording her new album cathartically helped her to deal with her confidence issues

Saturday 18 October 2014 13:39 BST
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Nicole Scherzinger has said recording her new album helped her to deal with feelings of low esteem
Nicole Scherzinger has said recording her new album helped her to deal with feelings of low esteem

Nicole Scherzinger has said recording her new album was cathartic, helping her to battle a lack of self-worth and notions that she “wasn’t enough, that I wasn’t pretty, that I was fat, and that I wasn’t worthy of more”.

The former Pussycat Doll is releasing her new record, Big Fat Lie, this week, and writing it felt like “therapy” she told the Evening Standard.

She added that it’s “honest and authentic”, after journeying to a place in her life in which she can openly discuss things that she hadn’t before.

“Hopefully people can feel like they can relate to it”, she said, while also noting that “not everyone’s perfect”.

Earlier this year Scherzinger, 36, described her struggle with bulimia in her 20s, saying that she was “miserable on the inside” despite the glitz and success that she oozed on the outside.

She told Cosmopolitan that at the age of 27 she told herself that she would lose everything if she didn’t love herself.

“I’m never letting that happen again; you only get one life,” she said, describing the illness as once being her “drug” and “addiction”, perpetuated “through this cycle of disordered eating”.

Denise Hatton, Chief Executive of youth charity YMCA England told The Independent: “Nicole Scherzinger’s comments show that body confidence is an issue which affects everyone.

“It is so important that celebrities and high profile figures, stand up and help challenge the myths of ‘perfect bodies’ and ‘perfect looks’ which hold so much influence with young people.

“Through our campaigning, we hope to help everyone be real about body confidence.”

The YMCA has partnered with Dove to launch a campaign called Be Real: Body Confidence for Everyone, to help challenge attitudes around body image and the physical and psychological impacts that low confidence has on health.

Research published earlier this week by the Be Real campaign found that 16 million people in the UK are depressed due to the way they perceive their looks, while 1.6 million have an eating disorder.

Unrealistic perceptions of an 'ideal body' were also leading people into an unhealthy spiral of short-term dieting, depression and cosmetic intervention.

On Monday the campaign launched Body Confidence Week.

Scherzinger, in promoting her new album, said that just because a person’s life may look perfect, doesn’t necessarily mean it is: “Everyone always has these pre-conceived notions — that you’re glamorous, you don’t have any problems, you don’t have any issues, and we all battle with our own issues.”

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