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Miley Cyrus is opening up about body issues she thinks were caused by her role on the hit Disney Channel series Hannah Montana, in which she played a normal girl who lived a secret life as a pop star.
“From the time I was 11, it was, ‘You’re a pop star! That means you have to be blonde, and you have to have long hair, and you have to put on some glittery tight thing’,” she revealed to Marie Claire.
“Meanwhile, I’m this fragile little girl playing a 16-year-old in a wig and a ton of make-up.”
The singer, now 22, admitted it was a jarring experience when she left the Hannah Montana show. “I was told for so long what a girl is supposed to be from being on that show. I was made to look like someone that I wasn’t, which probably caused some body dysmorphia because I had been made pretty every day for so long.
“And then when I wasn’t on that show, it was like, Who the f*** am I?”
In an interview with the magazine, the Wrecking Ball singer also hit out at beauty standards in the media, saying: “When you look at retouched, perfect photos, you feel like s***. They lighten black girls’ skin. They smooth out wrinkles.
“Even when I get stuck on Instagram wondering, ‘Why don’t I look like that?’ It’s a total bummer. It’s crazy what people have decided we’re all supposed to be.”
Miley opened up about her struggle with mental illness, explaining: “I would have anxiety attacks. I’d get hot flashes, feel like I was about to pass out or throw up. It would happen a lot before shows, and I’d have to cancel.
“Then the anxiety started coming from anxiety. I would be with my friends, thinking, I should be having so much fun. You get in this hole that seems like you’re never going to be able to get out of.”
The star also revealed she was close friends with Caitlyn Jenner, the former Olympian who announced her transition to living as a woman earlier this year. Caitlyn is currently telling her story through docu-series I Am Cait.
“We’ve talked a lot about how you can never make every single person happy. We always laugh about people saying she transitioned to be famous. Which is crazy,” she said.
“Caitlyn has to tell her story, because if she doesn’t, everyone else is going to tell it for her.”
Miley’s interview features in the September issue of Marie Claire, out August 18.
Agencies/Canadajournal
