Billie Eilish: I was, like, starving myself

Billie Eilish has opened up about her "horrible" relationship with her body, admitting she took diet pills aged just 12, The Independent reported.

The singer, 19, who has won five Grammy’s in the past year, is celebrated for her music as well as her signature style, once saying she wears baggy clothes so that people can’t “judge her body.”

However last year photographs of the teenager dressed in a vest top and shorts emerged online, and trolls were quick to comment on Eilish’s figure.

Speaking to Vanity Fair about the experience, Eilish said: “I think that the people around me were more worried about it than I was, because the reason I used to cut myself was because of my body. To be quite honest with you, I only started wearing baggy clothes because of my body.”

Describing the growth she's had with her body image, Eilish, who has an auditory processing disorder and was diagnosed with Tourette's syndrome, said she now has a healthier mindset compared to her earlier teen years.

"I was really, really glad though, mainly, that I’m in this place in my life, because if that had happened three years ago, when I was in the midst of my horrible body relationship—or dancing a ton, five years ago, I wasn’t really eating. I was, like, starving myself," she said.

"I remember taking a pill that told me that it would make me lose weight and it only made me pee the bed—when I was 12. It’s just crazy."

Eilish admitted she never expected her body to be something people on social media would discuss, whether seeing her as a champion for body positivity or critiquing her shape and the way she chooses to dress.

"I thought that I would be the only one dealing with my hatred for my body, but I guess the internet also hates my body," she added. "So that’s great.”