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“I Have Never Felt Desired” Billie Eilish Opens Up On Body Image

By Michael Bamidele
06 June 2020   |   7:00 am
American singer-songwriter Billie Eilish has revealed that her body image issues stem from the feeling of not being desired in previous relationships. In an interview with GQ for the magazine's July/August cover, Eilish discusses body confidence issues and her signature look. "Here’s a bomb for you: I have never felt desired. My past boyfriends never…

Billie Eilish | Image: PopSugar/Getty/Matt Jelonek

American singer-songwriter Billie Eilish has revealed that her body image issues stem from the feeling of not being desired in previous relationships.

In an interview with GQ for the magazine’s July/August cover, Eilish discusses body confidence issues and her signature look.

“Here’s a bomb for you: I have never felt desired. My past boyfriends never made me feel desired. None of them. And it’s a big thing in my life that I feel I have never been physically desired by somebody.

“So I dress the way I dress as I don’t like to think of you guys – I mean anyone, everyone – judging it, or the size of it. But that doesn’t mean that I won’t wake up one day and decide to wear a tank top, which I have done before.”

Billie Eilish is one of the most popular music artists in the world right now. Her debut album “When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?” earned her the number one spot in the United States and the United Kingdom. She is the youngest person and the first woman to win the four main Grammy categories among other accolades.

Her signature look is easily recognisable; lime green and black hair and loose-fitting, casual ensembles. Eilish says she feels trapped in the persona she has created.

“Sometimes I dress like a boy. Sometimes I dress like a swaggy girl. And sometimes I feel trapped by this persona that I have created because sometimes I think people view me not as a woman,” Eilish told GQ.

She said that as a teenager, there was a point when she often tried to fit in with her classmates and visited ‘trendy shops’, describing the experiences as ‘very uncomfortable’. She admits the desire to look like her contemporaries, fortunately, disappeared ‘pretty fast’.

Last month, Eilish shared a powerful short film about body shaming, entitled “Not My Responsibility,” on YouTube and social media. In the film, she removes layers of clothing while speaking about the public perception of her body:

“Would you like for me to be smaller, weaker, softer, taller? Would you like me to be quiet? Do my shoulders provoke you? Does my chest? Am I my stomach? My hips?”

At the end of the video, the ‘No Time To Die’ singer concludes by stating: “We decide who they are. We decide what they’re worth. If I wear more, if I wear less – who decides what that makes me? What that means? Is my value based only on your perception? Or is your opinion of me not my responsibility?”

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