British singer Anne-Marie’s shyness and anxiety worsened once she became a pop star.
The “Alarm” hitmaker has opened up about her battle with self-image as a teenager and how she used to “slap” make-up on when she was at school and use it as her “mask”.
According to a report by BangShowbiz, she recalled: “I’ve struggled with anxiety since I was 12. As a kid, I was confident and carefree, but when I hit my teenage years I became really shy and would always worry about people looking at me. I wanted to fit in at school so much that I just did what everyone else did. Make-up was my mask: sometimes I’d slap so much on that you couldn’t tell what my real face looked like. “Doing this totally took away my personality and I withdrew into myself.”
The 27-year-old went on to say that the spotlight made her lose her “confidence” even more and she still struggles with her nerves when she is faced with a big group of people.
She explained to Glamour UK, “My shyness got worse at the start of my career, you’d think being a singer would be good for your confidence but, for me, it was actually the opposite. “The more people I met, the more anxious I became. “I was really protective of my feelings and wary of getting mugged off.”
The ‘Rewrite The Stars’ hitmaker says she is “on a journey” with her anxiety, which she has sought therapy for, as she still worries that people won’t like her when she walks into a room or enjoy her concerts – but she says that being open and talking to other people about how she is feeling has been invaluable.