Keke Palmer says she doesn’t want to set ‘unrealistic’ body standards

‘Let’s not get crazy... your journey is your journey,’ the actor said

Keke Palmer has spoken frankly about how staying fit is part of her job, but she does not want fans thinking she is setting “unrealistic” body standards for anyone else.

The Nope star, 29, also urged people to remember that “looking good” is part of the job for celebrities and others in the entertainment industry.

Speaking on her podcast Baby, This is Keke Palmer, in an episode released on Tuesday (1 August), Palmer said: “It is my job [to stay fit]. Let’s not get crazy – I don’t want people thinking that I am setting unrealistic standards.

“I can afford a trainer, meal prep and a lot of things,” she contined during the conversation with celebrity trainer Corey Calliet.

“It is expensive but I am investing in my career because it is my career to look good. Not even is it my career to look good, it is my career choice to have the kind of career that I want to have.”

Palmer, who is a mother of one, said it was her “personal choice” to stick with her fitness regime, but added: “I never want to put it on anybody. I always want to make it clear that when I am talking about fitness, health and wellness is that, ‘Your journey is your journey. You figure it out the way you can’. And when you look at these celebrities and people in the industry, know that it is their job.”

The Scream Queens star also discussed how her body changed during pregnancy and after the birth of her son, Leodis “Leo” Andrellton.

Previously, Palmer celebrated her postpartum body and thanked her son for giving her curves she never had before. In a video shared to Instagram, the actor wrote: “Hips? NEVER HAD EM! Boobs? Never had em! Booty? BARELY. Thanks son.”

“It’s interesting – after the baby – to see all the extra stuff I have to work with, and how much my fear of having extra weight actually became a strength as it pertained to weight training and working out,” she said on the podcast.

Keke Palmer attends Boss Featuring Keke Palmer terrace after party at The GRAMMY Museum on May 10, 2023 (Getty Images for The Recording A)

Palmer welcomed her son in February with her partner, Darius Jackson. She shared a sweet set of photos of the new family, showing Leo wrapped up in a onesie and beanie.

Last month, Jackson sparked controversy after he criticised an outfit Palmer wore to an Usher concert for being too revealing. In response to a video of Palmer being serenaded by Usher, he tweeted: “It’s the outfit tho [sic]… you a mom.”

After fans branded him “insecure” and accused him of shaming Palmer, he doubled down on his opinion and tweeted: “We live in a generation where the man of the family doesn’t want the wife and mother to his kids to showcase booty cheeks to please others and he gets told how much of a hater he is.

“This is my family and my representation. I have standards and morals to what I believe. I rest my case.”

(Getty Images)

Jackson later appeared on an episode of Palmer’s podcast and confessed that he held her to a “perfect standard” during their relationship, and found it difficult and “overwhelming” to have a relationship in the public eye.

The fitness instructor explained that, because his love life was under the spotlight, he felt “pressure to be perfect”, and this caused him to hold his partner to a certain “standard” too.

“And so, it really confused me and infiltrated my mind because not only did I have to hold myself to that perfect standard, I was also holding you to a perfect standard as well.”