Sara Evans Details Struggle With Eating Disorder and Body Dysmorphia
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Originally appeared on E! Online
Sara Evans is opening up about her body image struggles.
The county singer recently shared how being in the spotlight has made her more self-conscience of her appearance, especially when she reads comments from others.
"It bothers me, I won't say that it doesn't," Sara told Cheryl Burke on the April 28 episode of her Sex, Lies, and Spray Tans podcast. "I have an eating disorder. I'm more scared of being fat than anything in the world, and that's not good. That's not normal."
The 53-year-old noted that because she's felt pressured to maintain her looks, she suffers from body dysmorphia.
"My record label, every time I'd had a baby, they would be like, 'When's she gonna lose weight?'" Sara—who shares kids Avery, 24, Olivia, 20, and Audrey, 19, with ex-husband Craig Schelske—explained. "So, things like that would get in my head."
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Sara said she finds herself listening to these remarks because she doesn't like letting others down.
"I'm a people pleaser," she revealed. "If I'm skinny and I'm pretty and I did a good show, then I'm loved—and I want to feel loved no matter what."
Other times, she wants to clap back at rude comments, like when a person once told her, "What happened to your face?"
"That bothered me all day long," the "Born to Fly" singer confessed. "I just wanted to respond like, 'How dare you?' I haven't done anything to my face; I've had Botox."
She added, "You wanna know what happened to my face? I'm 52."
Although Sara is learning to block out the critics, she's not the only celebrity to discuss her appearance. Keep reading to see all of the messages stars have shared about their body image.
Chrissy Teigen
"I think, in a way, we've forgotten what a regular body looks like. There are people out there who are struggling, and I'm struggling, and it's okay to come to terms with realizing it's going to be a bit of a journey. I'm not blind: I see my body, I see the difference in shape, I see that I gained weight. But I also see with those same eyes that I have a beautiful baby boy, and an amazing little girl, and I am very happy."
Jonah Hill
In February 20201, the Wolf of Wall Street star clapped back at paparazzi after photos of himself surfing were published online. "I don't think I ever took my shirt off in a pool until I was in my mid 30s even in front of family and friends," he wrote. "Probably would have happened sooner if my childhood insecurities weren't exacerbated by years of public mockery about my body by press and interviewers. So the idea that the media tries to play me by stalking me while surfing and printing photos like this and it can't phase me anymore is dope. I'm 37 and finally love and accept myself."
In August 2021, he debuted a tattoo reading, "Body Love," which parodies the logo of water sports apparel company Body Glove.
Demi Lovato
"Stretch marks and extra fat...And yet I still love myself," the singer, who battled bulimia for years, wrote on Instagram in 2018. "Cellulite...and yet I still love myself."
Lovato later told E! News, "I was on Instagram and I started comparing myself to these Instagram models and I just thought to myself, someone needs to show my fans and anybody that's looking at my account that what you see isn't always what's real. And so, I decided to embrace my flaws and—I don't even like to call them flaws, it's just a part of who I am—and show the world that I'm imperfect, but that's what makes me beautiful."
In December 2020, she posted on Instagram photos showing her stretch marks outlined with glitter.
Cindy Crawford
"See? Even I don't wake up looking like Cindy Crawford."
-keeping it all the way real about the power of a good glam squad
Kate Winslet
"As a child, I never heard one woman say to me, 'I love my body.' Not my mother, my elder sister, my best friend. No one woman has ever said, 'I am so proud of my body.' I make sure to say it to [my daughter] Mia, because a positive physical outlook has to start at an early age."
Mindy Kaling
"IDK who needs to hear this but…WEAR A BIKINI IF YOU WANT TO WEAR A BIKINI. You don't have to be a size 0."
Gabourey Sidibe
"People always ask me, 'You have so much confidence. Where did that come from?' It came from me. One day I decided that I was beautiful, and so I carried out my life as if I was a beautiful girl. I wear colors that I really like, I wear makeup that makes me feel pretty, and it really helps. It doesn't have anything to do with how the world perceives you. What matters is what you see. Your body is your temple, it's your home, and you must decorate it."
Lena Dunham
"I feel I've made it pretty clear over the years that I don't give even the tiniest of s--ts what anyone else feels about my body. I've gone on red carpets in couture as a size 14. I've done sex scenes days after surgery, mottled with scars. I've accepted that my body is an ever changing organism, not a fixed entity—what goes up must come down and vice versa. I smile just as wide no matter my current size because I'm proud of what this body has seen and done and represented."
Emma Stone
"No matter how things look from the outside, we can all be super critical of ourselves and of our image in the mirror. I've seen articles or comments that have addressed my weight, or 'caving to pressure to be thin.' Keeping weight on is a struggle for me—especially when I'm under stress, and especially as I've gotten older....I remind myself to be kind to myself, and as slightly ridiculous as it may sound, to treat myself in the same gentle way I'd want to treat a daughter of mine. It really helps."
Meryl Streep
"For young women, I would say, don't worry so much about your weight. Girls spend way too much time thinking about that, and there are better things. For young men, and women, too, what makes you different or weird, that's your strength. Everyone tries to look a cookie-cutter kind of way and actually the people who look different are the ones who get picked up. I used to hate my nose. Now I don't. It's okay."
-on the advice she'd give aspiring actors
Viola Davis
"You know, when I was handed Annalise Keating, I said, 'She's sexy, she's mysterious, you know?' I'm used to playing women who gotta gain 40 pounds and have to wear an apron. So I said, 'Oh God, I've got to lose weight, I've got to learn how to walk like Kerry Washington in heels, you know, I've got to lose my belly.' And then I asked myself, 'Well, why do I have to do all that?' I truly believe that the privilege of a lifetime is being who you are, and I just recently embraced that at 51. I think my strongest power is that at ten o'clock every Thursday night, I want you to come into my world. I am not going to come into yours. You come into my world and you sit with me, my size, my hue, my age, and you sit, and you experience."
Lizzo
"When people look at my body and be like, 'Oh my God, she's so brave,' it's like, 'No, I'm not.' I'm just fine. I'm just me. I'm just sexy. If you saw Anne Hathaway in a bikini on a billboard, you wouldn't call her brave. I just think there's a double standard when it comes to women....I don't like it when people think it's hard for me to see myself as beautiful. I don't like it when people are shocked that I'm doing it."
-on being annoyed that people are surprised by her confidence
Zendaya
In 2016, the star clapped back online after being accused of being a "thinspo model" for "impressionable tweens."
"Do you find this funny? I will write another paragraph to educate you aswell #youreallywannabenext?" she tweeted, later adding, "Now....everyone go look in the mirror at their beautiful body, and love that s--t #thickgirlswinning #skinnygirlswinning #weallwinning."
Also in 2016, Zendaya called out a magazine for photoshopping her, writing on Instagram, "These are the things that make women self conscious, that create the unrealistic ideals of beauty that we have. Anyone who knows who I am knows I stand for honest and pure self love. So I took it upon myself to release the real pic (right side) and I love it."
The star later said this about excessive photoshopping in a New You interview: "There is no such thing as ugly. That's a word that doesn't really enter my vocabulary. If there's any definition to being perfect, you're perfect at being yourself. No other person can be you 100 percent; no one has your fingerprint; no one has your DNA. You are you 120 percent, through and through. Whether it is through my social media or whatever, I want anyone who looks up to me to know that I go through the same problems. I have to be confident in who I am."
Jennifer Lawrence
"You have to look past it—you look how you look, and be comfortable. What are you going to do? Be hungry every single day to make other people happy? That's just dumb."
-on why she refuses to diet
Serena Williams
"I love that I'm a full woman and I am strong, and I'm powerful, and I'm beautiful at the same time. And there's nothing wrong like that. It's so important to look at the positives; if I get caught up looking at the negatives, it can really bring you down. I don't have time to be brought down, I've got too many things to do. I have Grand Slams to win, I have people to inspire, and that's what I'm here for."
Isla Fisher
"I don't even own a scale. I have two young girls, and I wouldn't want them to see me weighing myself all the time. I don't think it sends the right message....For me, so much about life is acceptance. You can look in the mirror and find a million things wrong with yourself. Or you can look in the mirror and think, I feel good, I have my health, and I'm so blessed. That's the way I choose to look at it. I don't need to be perfect. I'm doing just fine."
Amy Adams
"Being pregnant finally helped me understand what my true relationship was with my body—meaning that it wasn't put on this earth to look good in a swimsuit. I was like, 'Look, I can carry a baby! I'm gaining weight right, everything's going well.' And I've had that relationship ever since."
Camila Mendes
"When did being thin become more important than being healthy? I recently went to a naturopath for the first time in my life. I told her about my anxiety around food and my obsession with dieting. She phrased a pivotal question in such a way that struck a chord with me: what other things could you be thinking about if you didn't spend all your time thinking about your diet? I suddenly remembered all the activities I love that used to occupy my time. At some point in my life, I allowed my obsession with being thin to consume me, and I refused to make room in my mind for any other concerns….I'm done believing in the idea that there's a thinner, happier version of me on the other side of all the tireless effort. Your body type is subject to genetics, and while eating nutrient-dense foods and exercising regularly will make you healthier, it will not necessarily make you thinner."
Lady Gaga
"I heard my body is a topic of conversation so I wanted to say, I'm proud of my body and you should be proud of yours too. No matter who you are or what you do. I could give you a million reasons why you don't need to cater to anyone or anything to succeed. Be you, and be relentlessly you. That's the stuff of champions."
-responding to chatter about her Super Bowl appearance
Sam Smith
"In the past if I have ever done a photo shoot with so much as a t-shirt on, I have starved myself for weeks in advance and then picked and prodded at every picture and then normally taken the picture down," they shared about a photoshoot, in which they bared their body. "Yesterday I decided to fight the f--k back, reclaim my body and stop trying to change this chest and these hips and these curves that my mum and dad made and love so unconditionally. Some may take this as narcissistic and showing off but if you knew how much courage it took to do this and the body trauma I have experienced as a kid you wouldn't think those things."
Ashley Graham
"I look at myself naked in the mirror and say, 'You know what, awkward butt shape? You're not gonna get higher or rounder but it's OK, because I've got Spanx for you.' Your words have so much power. Every day, if you tell yourself 'I love you,' if you give yourself one word of validation, it will change your mind."
