Miley Cyrus Admits to Demi Lovato That She Didn't Wear a Bikini "For Like Two Years" After 2013 VMA Performance
Miley Cyrus and Demi Lovato chatted on Instagram Live yesterday as part of Miley's "Bright Minded: Live with Miley" series. The old friends talked about how they're surviving while in self-isolation, their families, and the body image issues they both faced while growing up in the spotlight.
During the conversation, Miley talked about her controversial performance at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards where she performed alongside Robin Thicke and how the response to it affected the way she saw herself for years afterward.
"I basically went through two or three years where I wouldn’t wear shorts," Miley admitted. "I stopped wearing skirts on stage, all this sh*t because after the VMAs and I had on my cute little nude bodysuit, everyone started comparing me to a turkey and putting a turkey in my outfit. I was just so skinny and so pasty and they kept putting me next to this turkey, and I was feeling so bad on myself that I did not wear a bikini for like two years.”
"It was just really, really hurtful to be so body-shamed like that," she said. "And it really affected me in my personal life."
Miley continued, saying that while at the time she was projecting a persona of "being the most confident girl on the planet," in reality she felt like a fraud. "I was so insecure on the inside that in my personal life I wasn’t even wearing bathing suits and shorts," she said. "And when I was wearing like my little leotards and things, I had on f*cking four pairs of tights because I was so insecure."
Demi, expressed her regret for not being their for Miley during that time.
"First of all, I’m so sad that you went through that and I had no idea,"Demi said. "I wish I could’ve been there for you but I didn’t know. I feel like we’ve gone through times where we’re closer and [more] distant, and that’s fine, that’s what friends do. I just wish I could’ve been there for you, but like if that ever f*cking happens again, you better call me. I’ll walk to Malibu, I swear."
Demi has faced her own struggles with body image, and she recently opened up about it in her new song, "I Love Me." The singer told Miley it's always been important to her to be vocal about her journey.
"I kind of made a vow to myself that when I get older I just wanna represent what I didn’t have, and I want to be that for somebody." she said. "I’ve talked about my struggles with food and stuff. And yeah, I’m glad that I did because it’s brought me and my fans closer. I feel like, helped young people learn to accept their bodies when it starts to change."
The two continued talking about their relationship, which began when they were just 14 and both working with Disney Channel.
"I feel like you’ve always been such a light and that’s why we connected at 14," Demi said. "Like, I had a f*cking gap in my tooth. We connected then because we just saw something in each other. Maybe it was because of spirituality or maybe it was just our hearts, I don’t know."
Finally, Demi brought the conversation back to the topic of self-quarantining and how being alone in your house can often foster negative thoughts.
"I think it’s so important for anybody that has dealt with body image or anything like that, that right now when we’re home with our mirrors...it’s so important not to get consumed in negative self talk and this goes for anybody, whether you’ve dealt with body image or not," she said. "We’re going to see the same mirrors everyday. We’re going to have some of these same negative thoughts. It’s important not to beat ourselves up over getting nervous, over maybe not you know, eating perfectly, not working out perfectly. These are different, very scary times. And we’ve never been through anything like this in our lives so this is all new to everyone and it’s ok. Be gentle with yourself. And just take care of yourself as much as possible."
Miley will continue her series, with a new episode coming out everyday on her Instagram Live at 11:30 AM PT.
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