Charlotte Church reveals impact of being sexually objectified as a teenage star
Charlotte Church has opened up about the impact on her mental wellbeing of being sexually objectified as a teen.
The singer, now 36, recalled the "shame" and "weirdness" she felt when people began to comment on her body.
She experienced global fame as a childhood star from the age of 12 after the release of her Voice of an Angel album in 1998.
In an interview with The Sunday Times, she commented on how, aged 15, during an appearance on The Jonathan Ross Show the host joked: "Thank God for puberty."
Church said: "It’s only when you realise all of that darkness and shame and weirdness that has been put on you by other people, you start to unpick that as you get a bit older and yeah, it was really f***ed up.”
On spending her teens and twenties in the public eye, she noted: "It became exploitative.
Read more: Read more: Charlotte Church says being a popstar was her worst ever job – ‘I felt like a thing to be sold’
"That’s to do with what society does to young people and young women in particular, in terms of the press and the sex stories, all of that really nasty sh**t.”
She became interested in wellness in her late twenties after becoming "a bit fed up of going out with the girls every week".
The star has launched a retreat in Wales called The Dreaming, which charges from £405 to £1,350 for a three-night stay.
It will facilitate stargazing, forest bathing and sound-healing ceremonies, and the first guests will be welcomed in January.
Read more: Shania Twain reveals heartbreaking reason she would 'flatten' her breasts growing up
Church is now mother to three children – this includes daughter Ruby, 15, and son Dexter, 13, from her relationship with rugby star Gavin Henson.
She also has a daughter Freda, two, with her husband Jonathan Powell, who she married in 2017.
Watch: Charlotte Church discusses adoptive father's rare illness AL amyloidosis
