Sara Evans opened up about her battle with an eating disorder and body dysmorphia, noting how public opinion affected the way she views her body.
During her appearance on an episode of Cheryl Burke's podcast, "Sex, Lies, and Spray Tans," the country singer was asked about how she handles people's opinions which comes at the cost of being famous.
MORE: Eating disorder hospitalizations doubled during COVID-19 pandemic, new data showsGetting candid about her answer, Evans replied, "It bothers me, it does."
"Yes, I won't say that it doesn't," she said. "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."
Continuing the conversation, Evans revealed that she is also struggling with body dysmorphia which consists of imagined or slight defects in appearance, according to the National Institutes of Health.
"My record label, after I every time I'd had a baby, they would be like, 'when's she gonna lose weight?' You know, and so things like that would just get in my head," she shared.
Evans added, "I'm a people pleaser. I'm a performance based like 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."
Sharing an example of an incident that upset her, she explained, "I was reading comments on one of my podcasts the other day and somebody goes, 'what happened to your face?'"
"And that bothered me all day long, all day long, and I just wanted to respond like, 'how dare you?'...I haven't done anything to my face. I've had botox…I mean you want to know what happened in my face? I'm 52," Evans said.
Agreeing with Evans' remark, Burke chimed in, stating, "by the way, we all evolve, everyone needs to calm down," noting that the situation is "so frustrating."
"But then you also have to like for me, I have to realize, like, 'I'm never going to get everyone to like me,'" Burke added.
Eating disorders are serious and "often fatal illnesses that are associated with severe disturbances in people's eating behaviors and related thoughts and emotions," according to the National Institute of Mental Health.
In the United States, the National Eating Disorders Association reported that 28.8 million Americans will suffer from an eating disorder at some point in their lives.
Evans is among a few celebrities who have spoken out publicly about their struggles with eating disorders in the past including Taylor Swift, Billy Porter and Demi Lovato, among others.
If you or someone you know is battling an eating disorder, contact the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) at 1-800-931-2237 or NationalEatingDisorders.org.
