Singer JoJo opens up about the crazy pressure to lose weight as a teen star

Few of us would claim to be surprised anymore by stories of how young women in showbiz feel undue pressure over their weight and looks.

But that doesn't make it any less shocking when those women open up about their terrible experiences. The latest performer to speak up is JoJo (real name Joanna Levesque), who became a star aged 14 with her No 1 single 'Leave (Get Out)' in 2004. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggWyUEuGcWY Now aged 25, JoJo has been talking about how she was led to adopt dangerous dieting practices in order to please her showbiz masters.

"Here's something that I agreed to do that ended up messing with me psychologically," JoJo tells Popsugar Girls Guide. "I was under a lot of pressure with a company I was previously and they wanted me to lose weight fast. So they got me with a nutritionist and had me, like, on all these supplements, and I was injecting myself — this is a common thing 'the girls' do all the way — it makes your body only need certain calories, so I ate 500 calorie a day. It was the most unhealthy thing I've ever done."

She continued:

"I gained all the weight back. I felt terrible about myself, and I was upset that I even subscribed to the standard that they wanted me to be at. I felt like, 'If I don't do this, my album won't come out'. Which it didn't! So it's not like it even worked!"

https://twitter.com/iamjojo/status/757680774560616448 JoJo is back with a new album released on a new label - having spent seven years trying to break free of her previous contract. She had signed a seven-album deal with the label, Blackground, in 2002, and so struggled to break her contract. https://www.instagram.com/p/jKzDphHCzo/   You can watch her full interview here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRmNN7eNAPw