CMAT expresses ‘deep sadness’ after comments about her body at BBC Radio 1 performance

"With deep sadness – CMAT”

The vile remarks pushed the Irish singer to say she felt 'compelled to speak out and defend herself'.

One of CMAT’s biggest hits, Take a Sexy Picture of Me, was written in response to cruel comments about her appearance at the same event in 2024.

The reaction to the BBC’s social media posts was so vile at the time that the broadcaster was forced to turn off comments entirely.

Now, two years on, the singer has once again faced scrutiny over her body.

Taking to Instagram, she wrote: “I have had Instagram/TikTok/Twitter deleted from my phone for some time now for the preservation of my mental health, but the discourse this week appears to be so large that it has still gotten back to me. As such, I felt compelled to wade in and speak for myself!!!

“It’s been very hard to try and describe how difficult the last few days since the bbcr1 big weekend have been, but i came across an essay on substack by a blog called Front Row Feels which really has summed up a lot of what is causing my deep sadness, so i decided to add it into my post (swipe right to read, im also gonna link in stories).”

The essay drew comparisons between CMAT and fellow Big Weekend performers such as Zara Larsson and Olivia Dean, who were spared similar levels of online abuse.

“It is literally so boring for me, a gorgeous genius, to keep having to yap on about how horribly I am treated because of my body. I would love to stop, but I cannot because it keeps happening, at an accelerating and worsening pace as I become more famous,” she continued.

“There is no relief from this- nobody can protect me or save me from this, and all that is demanded of me is more and more work as every environment I am placed in becomes more hostile.

“I also want to point out, to some very well-meaning people, that I am not being defiant. I am not choosing to look like this or weigh this much as some kind of punk rock act of liberty.

“I simply have a body, one that I would of course like to change to fit in and avoid all of this abuse, but I have had extreme difficulty in doing so. I don’t get a say in whether or not I want to be brave, I simply have to sit here and take it.

“With all that being said, I am at the same time very, very happy and grateful every day to have the job that I have. The feeling of seeing all your dreams come true after so many years of constant grinding towards them….. chef’s kiss.

“But the success is increasingly becoming tarnished by the fact that I would be allowed to enjoy it so much more if I was thin,” she wrote, before adding, “with deep sadness – cmat,” she wrote.

CMAT signed off her post by writing: “PS its time to start throwing pints in mens’ faces again !!!! bring it back for summer 26.”