Sam Smith recalls undergoing liposuction at 13 after getting bullied for weight

Sam Smith recalled undergoing a “nightmare” liposuction when they were 13 after being bullied about their weight.

The How Do You Sleep? singer—who uses they/them pronouns—opened up about how they always struggled with weight since their younger years.

"My weight as a kid was the hardest thing for me in school, and weirdly the thing I probably got teased the most about," Smith said in the Nov. 6 episode of Penn Badgley's Podcrushed.

They went on about how they struggled with it so much that they decided to undergo liposuction at 13.

"I had surgery on my chest when I was 13 years old because I had a growing chest," they continued. "There was all sorts of reasons why, but mainly that I was just getting so teased. I couldn’t go swimming in school, and getting changed in the locker room was hell. So, I got liposuction when I was 13 years old."

Smith also noted how their parents were supportive of them getting the procedure at such a young age.

“They were supportive,” they replied. “They were hugely supportive of the whole thing because they saw how much it was crippling everything about me.”

Despite getting one, Smith described the procedure as a "nightmare." 

“It was all a struggle with food and stuff, and the liposuction, it worked, but it was also a nightmare,” they admitted. “Because they gave me a bandage which is like a bra but I was only meant to wear it for a month, but if I wore the bandage, it meant that I would get to the front of the lunch queue because everyone had to be sensitive about my chest. So I just kept this bandage on for nearly a year.”

“I’d be like, ‘Ooh, don’t come close to me,’ and I’d get first in the lunch queue, and I’d just eat more and eat more,” the musician said. “So the surgery never really worked because I just love food," they added.

In 2023, Smith opened up about overcoming body dysmorphia after struggling with their weight for a long time, admitting it took them a long time to finally become comfortable posing topless for their album, Gloria.

"Within my industry, there is definitely that question of, 'What should a pop star look like?'" they told The Sunday Times.

Per Smith, their self-image shifted after the 2018 Thrill of It All tour.

"When I was 25, I came off tour exhausted. I looked to role models in the body world. Every time I went to the pool, I felt self-conscious, but I forced myself to take my top off," they said. "It paid off because I now have the opposite of body dysmorphia. I look fabulous. I'm finally getting a tan. I'm burnt in places I've never been burnt."

"I'm happier in my own skin on Gloria. I feel liberated, released from pressures I felt when I was young," they said at the time. "My mum says that, as I've got older, I've stopped caring what people think as much. She tends to be right," they added.

Smith is known for their top hits such as Too Good At Goodbyes, Unholy, Dancing with a Stranger, Stay With Me, and Fire on Fire.

They last visited the Philippines in 2023 for their Gloria tour.