Taylor Swift has opened up about her relationship with food in her new documentary, Miss Americana.
In the Netflix documentary - which premiered at Sundance Film Festival on Thursday, and will air on the streaming platform on January 31st - the Style singer disclosed that she has struggled with her body image and an eating disorder. This marks a change for Swift, who has previously remained close-lipped on many aspects of her personal life, not least her political leanings.
According to Variety, in a voiceover for the movie, the singer describes how seeing photos of herself where she looked "too big" or "pregnant" triggered her "to just starve a little bit - just stop eating". And in the accompanying Variety cover story, she explained how newfound fame and public scrutiny impacted her body image.
Watch Taylor Swift's reaction to Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello's steamy AMAs performance..."I remember how, when I was 18, that was the first time I was on the cover of a magazine," she said. "And the headline was like ‘Pregnant at 18?’ And it was because I had worn something that made my lower stomach look not flat. So I just registered that as a punishment."
"And then I’d walk into a photo shoot and be in the dressing room and somebody who worked at a magazine would say, 'Oh, wow, this is so amazing that you can fit into the sample sizes. Usually we have to make alterations to the dresses, but we can take them right off the runway and put them on you!' And I looked at that as a pat on the head. You register that enough times, and you just start to accommodate everything towards praise and punishment, including your own body."
Initially Swift wasn't sure if she'd feel comfortable enough to speak openly about her relationship with food, but she says she connected with the way that the documentary's director, Lana Wilson, was going to tell the story. "I think I’ve never really wanted to talk about that before, and I’m pretty uncomfortable talking about it now," she continued. "But in the context of every other thing that I was doing or not doing in my life, I think it makes sense [to have it in the film]."