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Home / Entertainment

How Lorde 'distanced herself' from body image issues when she was a teenager

BANG! Showbiz
16 Aug, 2021 08:26 PM3 mins to read

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The singer opened up about what it was like to shoot to fame at the age of 16. Photo / Getty Images

The singer opened up about what it was like to shoot to fame at the age of 16. Photo / Getty Images

Lorde kicked body-image issues "out the conversation" during her teenage years.

The 24-year-old star - who released her debut album, Pure Heroine, in 2013 - has revealed that she made a conscious effort to distance herself from body-image issues during her younger years, as she "didn't want people to be talking" about her in that way.

"I sort of kicked that out of the conversation. I was pretty intent about that. I didn't want people to be talking about what my body looked like. I was a kid.

"And I really wasn't 'in' my body. As a teenager, you kind of wear your body like an outfit that doesn't fit yet."

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Lorde - who is releasing her long-awaited new album, Solar Power, this month - is ultimately glad that she decided to approach the issue how she did, acknowledging that her body "is not a big centre of curiosity now".

She told the Irish Times newspaper: "It definitely was something I very specifically did not invite. I think it all worked out. How my body looks is not a big centre of curiosity now. Which I think is in part because of the grounding I lay as a teenager.

"So yeah - I feel good about baby me doing that for future me."

Lorde hasn't released an album in four years and she admits that returning to the spotlight after so long has taken some readjustment.

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The pop star explained: "This is a huge adjustment for me. All of a sudden people are touching me and looking and me. It's their job to have me looking a certain way.

The singer opened up about what it was like to shoot to fame at the age of 16. Photo / Getty Images
The singer opened up about what it was like to shoot to fame at the age of 16. Photo / Getty Images

"This new focus on my physicality is always a big adjustment. It's so strange to me."

Earlier this year, when she first revealed her album release date, the pop star confirmed she wouldn't be returning to social media.

The singer took a step back from posting on Instagram and Twitter after her last album and touring cycle, and instead elected to communicate with fans via email.

The star wrote in an email note today: "The rumours are true — I'm not gonna be returning to social media this cycle, outside of the occasional temporary post, I guess."

During her time away from the spotlight, Lorde broke her social media silence a few times - sometimes posting on her once secret onion rings review account, and encouraging Kiwis to vote in the general election.

- Additional reporting, NZ Herald

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