Chlöe Bailey is opening up about her struggles with body image.
At age 23, the multitalented singer-songwriter is already extremely accomplished with a Grammy nomination and multiple projects in the works, but it’s been a long journey to get to this point.
Despite the confident sexuality she presents in her music with tracks like “Have Mercy”, body image is actually something Bailey has struggled with.
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“It’s complicated. I’ve always had thick thighs and a butt. But I was growing up at a time when, if someone on television told you that you had a big butt, they meant it as an insult,” she recalls in a new interview with Allure for their June-July cover story. “So I was a little ashamed of my curves. I tried to hide them. It took a very, very long time. Now my favourite thing about [my body] is my butt.”
One of the ways she learned to embrace her body was by watching other women in entertainment who encouraged a message of body positivity and loving themselves.
“The first woman I saw embrace her body was Beyoncé. Hearing her sing ‘Bootylicious’ or seeing her perform on the BET [awards] made me feel calm about my body,” Bailey shares. “Also Jill Scott. She showed me another beautiful, full-figured, thick, sexy, curvaceous [woman]. And I was like, that is sexy.”
As a fully accomplished musician in her own right, the singer is now taking on her own role in encouraging body acceptance and self-love. It’s something she channels through her onstage persona.
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“When I’m [not performing], I’m a bubbly, corny, clumsy person. But when the lights turn on, something just happens. I’m somebody else. I feel like it’s not fair for us to say we’re only one version of who we are. We all have multiple layers to ourselves. Maybe this is a side of me that I’ve always wanted to get out but I’ve been too scared,” Bailey explains. “The Chlöe onstage? I’m fearless. I feel sexy. I feel strong. I feel like nothing can hold me back. When I’m off the stage, it’s the complete opposite. That version onstage is still a really nice person, but she doesn’t take any s***. She knows who she is.”
Allure’s June/July 2022 issue is available on newsstands nationwide May 17th.
