Nicole Scherzinger felt "truly naked and exposed" when she opened up about her battle with bulimia.
Towards the end of last year, the gorgeous singer revealed she had struggled with the eating disorder and credited her boyfriend Lewis Hamilton with helping her beat the illness.
Her need to stay slim was particularly prominent during her time with band The Pussycat Dolls and initially the 34-year-old was nervous about opening up to her fans.
"I'm really happy because it's in my past now, but initially I was like, 'I'm so stupid, no one is going to understand, why am I coming out with this? I'm truly naked and exposed and they'll see me for all my flaws,'" she explained in an emotional interview with British magazine OK!
"And then it wasn't until I saw my tweets while I was in London in my apartment and I cried and cried and cried. I was like, 'Oh my gosh, people are actually going to see me.'"
Nicole seems bubbly and stunning to her fans, impressing with her songs as well as being a judge on The X Factor UK.
Whereas she may seem to have everything, the Hawaiian-born beauty wanted everyone to see the truth behind her outgoing exterior.
"I only know me, but people see someone else," she explained.
"They're like, 'Oh, she's this perfect little thing, who comes from this perfect little life, who's never had to work a day.' But when they see you for all your flaws, they think, 'She's just like me.'"
Nicole struggled with bulimia for eight years and her body confidence issues started at a young age.
"My whole life, until I hit my thirties. I was very conscious of my body," she confessed.
"I started working out like a crazy person at 14. I would run and run and run until I couldn't run anymore."
Since revealing her obsession with staying slim, the brunette beauty has gone on to help young girls in similar situations.
Whereas she can see the good that came of telling the truth, Nicole was wary of the effect on her family at first.
"I'd never talked about it. My mom didn't even know about it until they had to interview her [for VH1's Behind The Music]. I was too ashamed to tell anybody," she said.
"[My mom] cried for a long time, but I think in some weird way she battled with similar things as well when she was young with her insecurities. I think she could relate so she wasn't so hard on me."
