Jessica Simpson recalls the intense pressure she felt to lose weight early in her career.
The 45-year-old singer was performing in Pennsylvania on Thursday (June 11) and got vulnerable in the audience as she reflected on her career.
“It feels good to be back on stage in my 40s. I missed all of my 30s, so this really feels like me again. I feel like going on stage is almost more comfortable than my living room at home, and it’s such a beautiful feeling,” she said, according to footage from Us Weekly.
The Dukes of Hazzard star recalled how, when she first started out as a singer and tried to be a pop star, she was always compared to Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera.
“I had to follow in their footsteps. I really thought I was signed just because of my voice, then it was like, ‘OK, you have to lose 15 pounds.’ Jessica shared, adding that she only weighed 115 pounds as a teenager.
“To tell a 17-year-old, that’s a lot,” she continued. “The second record, I was told, was going to have a six-pack, which was definitely not going to happen. I’m just not built that way, you know? There were just all the things I had to be to be’Jessica Simpson‘ or the version of Jessica Simpson they thought I was going to be successful. I always felt like a failure, like I was never good enough.”
She has come a long way since those days on her journey of compassion and self-love.
Back in October 2025, under a visit to The Jennifer Hudson Show, Jessica spoke about her music comeback, saying she went through an “incredible journey of trying to discover self-love and also compassion, and just trying to stay vulnerable but find strength through it,” for her first new collection of music since 2008 titled Nashville Canyon: Part 1.
Earlier this month, at another concert, Jessica got very vulnerable about her past alcohol problem.
Sent to:Jessica Simpson
