‘I HATED BEING SKINNY'

Christina Aguilera says turning 40 freed her to be herself – and she’s loving her new curves

- LINDSAY DE FREITAS

SHE’S been working since she was seven years old, literally growing up before the eyes of the world.

By nine she’d landed a coveted spot on the US TV show Star Search, and by 13 she was holding her own on The All New Mickey Mouse Club alongside Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears.

When she was 19 she released her debut album and won a Grammy for best new artist.

Hailed as the little girl with the big voice, Christina Aguilera was at the very top of the music world.

Millions of girls the world over copied her look, slinging their jeans as low as possible to show offintricate navel piercings, rocking pink highlights in their hair and seriously overplucking their eyebrows.

Yet despite having achieved the global stardom she’d always dreamt of, Christina doesn’t look back fondly on those years.

And now, having just turned 40, she’s reflecting on her years in the spotlight and the pressure of trying to maintain an image she believed the public wanted to see.

“I have a hard time looking at the early pictures of myself because I remember feeling so insecure,” she recently told Health magazine.

“I hated being super skinny. I would never want to relive my 20s – you’re so in your own head and finding your confidence.” Christina also resents the way she was portrayed publicly, describing those wildly successful years as “tough to look back on”.

“There was a different mentality in terms of what was accepted or not accepted by the press.