Vanessa Williams has felt serious pressure to meet certain body-image standards.
The singer appeared as a guest host on Global’s “The Talk” on Wednesday, and opened up about being pressured to lose weight after giving birth to her first child.
“I was asked to come in to meet for ‘Eraser’ with Arnold Schwarzenegger,” she recalled of the 1996 action movie. “As a singer, it’s a matter of how well you sing, not if I can fit into the outfit. So I wasn’t used to being judged by how skinny I was. I remember being asked by the producer, ‘Well, we’d like you to lose some weight.’
“I literally went on a diet. I considered lipo, just to be able to be on screen. I lost a lot of weight. I did a lot of cardio. I did a lot of Pilates and I haven’t been that thin since. I got really skinny.”
The 56-year-old also believes that young people now face even more severe pressure over their weight, due to social media.
“I’ve got four kids, my youngest is 19 and she’s on her phone all the time looking at stuff that’s filtered and trying to achieve something that’s almost unachievable because everyone’s either doctored themselves or starving themselves,” Williams said.
RELATED: Shemar Moore And Christel Khalil Remember ‘Y&R’ Co-Star Kristoff St. John On ‘The Talk’
“For me, there’s nothing you could say to me about my weight that would cause me to extreme diet,” she continued. “I don’t care what you say and to quote the great Tyra Banks, if you say anything you can kiss my fat a**!”
“The Talk” airs weekdays at 2 p.m. ET/PT on Global.
