“I Was Ashamed”: Nicole Scherzinger Has Opened Up About Struggling With Bulimia

You wouldn’t think it to look at her now, but Nicole Scherzinger struggled a lot with body confidence when she was growing up. The X Factor judge has just opened up about the lengths she went to to feel good about herself in a recent interview with Cosmopolitan.

Speaking in their October issue, the 39-year-old said, “I was always very critical of myself from a young age, and when I was 14, I started running. I would go outside in the middle of the night and run, because I thought I had to be thinner and that my thighs should look a certain way.”

And things only got worse when she joined the Pussycat Dolls in 2003. “When I got The Pussycat Dolls, it really amplified that because it had so much to do with showing your body off…”

She developed bulimia, an eating disorder characterised by periods of binge eating followed by purging. Nicole described that time of her life as “very imprisoning.”

“It stole all of my happiness, confidence and memories,” she says. “I have a lot of fans and I never wanted to come out about it, because I was ashamed. But once I finally did come out about it, I realised how many people it had helped.”

Nowadays, she uses exercise to keep her mind and body healthy. “Every woman has good and bad days,” she says. “But what really helps me is working out. Even if it’s not for very long, [I love] to get a sweat on to keep me focused and positive.”

She added, “You should embrace and accept yourself more. Don’t be so hard on yourself, and love your curves.”

What do you think of Nicole’s comments?