Kelly Clarkson on being body-shamed: 'I felt more pressure when I was thin'

Singer says she was compared to images of naked women in magazines

Kelly Clarkson has opened up about the body-shaming she experienced throughout her career.

In the latest episode of Glamour magazine’s chat show, titled Glamour Unfiltered, the American Idol winner revealed that she felt under “more pressure” to conform in the music industry when she was “thin”.

This pressure, she says, was often the result of people around her showing her images of naked women on magazine covers in a body-shaming act.

“I felt more pressure from people actually when I was thin, when I was really thin and not super healthy because I just was worn out, just working so hard and not keeping healthy habits,” Clarkson explained.

“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. That's not even my image. That's not who I am. That's who they are.”

The 38-year-old added that nowadays she shuts any body-shaming down before it even begins, saying: “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!’

“It's up to artists to really push back,” she continued. “It's up to people in the limelight to push back and go, 'Look, I'm cool with you not being okay with this. But this is who I am.'”

The Voice judge also opened up about how her relationship with self-love has evolved throughout her life and how important it is to forming positive relationships with others.

“Until you can love yourself and love who you are, I don't think that you're capable of applying it to others,” she said. “You’re just holding yourself back and you're risking beautiful relationships that you could have with people because you just still haven't worked out your own damage.”

The mother-of-two went on to discuss how she has been coping as a working parent amid the coronavirus pandemic and referred to the last few months as an “emotional roller coaster”.

“It's been exhausting honestly, cooking every meal and cleaning nonstop after toddlers and teenagers! Everybody's learning from home now and the teaching! So, everything has been crazy,” she said.

“I've definitely reminded people that I work with I'm doing the best I can. I'm literally holding down so many things right now. Not only jobs, but even things where we usually had a lot more help. We are fortunate, so I'm not complaining in that sense, but I've definitely had to people that I work with, ‘you hired a mom and I'm not an absentee mom. I'm a full-on mom.’

“I already have abandonment issues, so I don't want to pass those down.”

The interview comes after Clarkson filed for divorce from husband Brandon Blackstock after nearly seven years of marriage.

The singer cited “irreconcilable differences” in court documents, requesting joint legal and physical custody of their two children.

The couple, who have been married since 2013, share two children together, daughter River Rose, five, and son Remington Alexander, four.

Blackstock also has a 17-year-old daughter Savannah and 13-year-old son, Seth, with his ex-wife Melissa Ashworth.