For country music icon Shania Twain, posing nude for the first time was an act of courage.
In an interview with TODAY’s Hoda Kotb for the “Making Space with Hoda Kotb” podcast, the 57-year-old opened up about embracing her body while developing the artwork for her upcoming album “Queen of Me,” which involved a nude photo shoot.
Her motto? “Forget the sag,” she said.
“I’m only going to get more saggy,” she told Hoda. “It’s also one of those things like, I better enjoy this moment right now because I know I don’t look like I did when I was 20.”
The five-time Grammy winner explained that the photo shoot was a “real leap of faith” as she worked to be more “relaxed and comfortable” in her own skin.
“I don’t even know where I got the courage to do it,” she said. “I think I just got fed up of judging myself.”
The singer also said that she believes she's reached a point in her life where she wouldn’t consider plastic surgery.
“Maybe that was probably part of what pushed me to go, ‘OK, it’s time to start loving yourself in your own skin,’” she said.
Earlier this month, the singer shared on TODAY that posing nude for her album was not only an act of empowerment. It also provided a way for her to face some of the trauma she experienced in childhood.
“Doing the nude photography is really about saying listen, I was abused when I was a kid. ... This cringey, horrible wanting to escape being in my own skin — I’m just in this mode now where, no, no no, I’m happy in my own skin,” she said.
“It’s the only skin I have,” she added. “I don’t have a choice. Otherwise, I’m going to hate myself for the rest of my life. So it’s time to start loving myself in my own skin and really embracing that and not be embarrassed or shy of it and this is who I am.”
In December, Twain shared with The Sunday Times that to avoid abuse from her stepfather she would flatten her breasts.
"I would wear bras that were too small for me, and I’d wear two, play it down until there was nothing girl about me. Make it easier to go unnoticed. Because, oh, my gosh, it was terrible — you didn’t want to be a girl in my house," she told the outlet.
Now, with her sixth studio album, “Queen of Me,” out Feb. 3, Twain is “enjoying the search” of finding and accepting herself, she told Hoda in the podcast episode.
“It couldn’t be more fitting for where I’m really at in my own mind,” she said. “I’m responsible for myself. I take the good with the bad.”
Check out the full episode of “Making Space” with Shania Twain on Apple or wherever you find your podcasts.
