Sara Evans opens up about her mental health in a new interview, revealing that she struggles with both an eating disorder and body dysmorphia.
The country star talks to former Dancing With the Stars dancer Cheryl Burke for a new episode of Burke’s Sex, Lies, and Spray Tans podcast, and during the conversation, she admits that she has an unhealthy relationship with food and her body due to being a “people pleaser.”
Burke asks Evans how she deals with the opinions that come with fame, and she admits she finds it difficult to shake off what people say about her — especially when it comes to her appearance.
“I have an eating disorder,” she states candidly. “I’m more scared of being fat than anything in the world, and that’s not good. That’s not normal.”
Evans adds that she struggles with body dysmorphia, which Psychology Today defines as “a type of obsessive-compulsive disorder. An individual with body dysmorphic disorder is overly preoccupied with what are perceived as gross imperfections in their appearance and spends an hour or more every day thinking about the way they look.”
The “Born to Fly” hitmaker says her record label reps used to wonder, “When’s she gonna lose weight?” every time she would have a baby.
“So things like that would just get in my head,” she admits. “I’m a people pleaser. Like, if I’m skinny and I’m pretty and I did a good show, then I’m loved…and I want to feel loved no matter what.”
On one occasion, Evans shares, someone posted an unkind comment about her appearance online, asking her, “What happened to your face?”
The incident “bothered me all day long,” she adds. “I just wanted to respond, like, ‘How dare you?’ I haven’t done anything to my face. I’ve had Botox… You wanna know what happened to my face? I’m 52.”
Evans has previously opened up to People about her struggles with anxiety and PTSD, which date back to her getting hit by a car when she was 8 years old.
Evans scored a long string of hits in the ’90s and 200s, including “No Place That Far,” “I Could Not Ask for More,” “Suds in the Bucket,” “A Little Bit Stringer” and more. Her most recent release is “Pride,” a deeply personal song that addresses difficulties in her marriage to Jay Barker.
In an episode of her own podcast, Diving in Deep With Sara Evans, the singer revealed in March that she and Barker have reconciled after a difficult few years that included her filing for divorce from Barker in August 2021 after 13 years of marriage.
Barker was arrested in January of 2022 after he allegedly tried to ram his car into the car that Evans was riding in. The former college football player was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
Evans says they are stronger than ever now after therapy, but cautions that her choice is only what she feels is right for her.
“We’re so happy now, but I don’t want anyone to think that I’m advocating staying in a relationship where you are ever, in your gut, you know that you need to exit the situation,” she shares.
“Every woman needs to follow her gut on that and do what is best for her. I believe and I hope that I’ve done that.”
