Jessica Simpson has claimed she felt pressure to shed weight to compete with Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera early in her career.
The singer was 17 and weighed "115 pounds", but Jessica's record label allegedly expected her to "lose 15 pounds".
Page Six shared a video of the I Wanna Love You Forever hitmaker speaking to the audience during a gig in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, on Thursday (11.06.26).
Jessica, 45, told them: "So when I first started singing, I was - to everyone at the record label - supposed to be this pop star.
"You know, there’s Britney Spears, there’s Christina Aguilera, we love them, we support them. I had to, like, follow in their footsteps.
"And I really thought that I was signed just because of my voice, and all of a sudden it was like, 'OK, you need to lose 15 pounds - and by the way, I was 115 pounds.
"So to tell a 17-year-old that is a lot."
Jessica claimed the pressure to lose weight intensified by her second album Irresistible, which dropped in 2001.
She said: "And then by the second record, I needed to have a six pack - which was definitely not going to happen.
"I’m just not built that way, you know? I have a belly a little bit."
Jessica heartbreakingly admitted she "always felt like a failure because I was never good enough".
The With You performer added: "There were just all these things that I had to be to be Jessica Simpson, or the version of Jessica Simpson that they believed I should be, that would be successful."
But the blonde beauty does have great memories from her early days.
Jessica said: "I mean, I had fun, and I know that I was in the right moment at the right time, but I learnt a lot."
Following a 15-year hiatus, the I Belong to Me artist felt she reclaimed her power when making her two-part EP, Nashville Canyon, which came out last year.
Jessica said: "When I went in to make new music to heal over the last three years, I was like, 'I'm going to do this my way. I want to write the whole thing; I have so many thoughts. I have so much to say.'
"But I also have so much to be present for this time around."
And the To Fall in Love Again star is thrilled to be performing live again.
Jessica said: "It's good to be back on stage in my 40s. I missed all of my 30s. This, really, to me, feels like home again. I feel like walking onstage is almost more comfortable than my living room at home.
"And it's such a beautiful feeling. It really is."
