shania twain has shared additional details about his traumatic childhood, this time saying that he tried to alter his appearance to avoid the attention of his allegedly sexually abusive stepfather.
In an interview with British newspaper The Sunday Times, the Canadian country music star explained how he would intentionally use ill-fitting underwear as a teenager in an effort to hide her changing figure.
“I hid and wanted flatten my breastsTwaine said.
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“I would wear bras that were too small for me, and I would wear two, downplaying it until there was nothing girlish about me. Make it easier to go unnoticed.
“Because oh my god it was terrible, you didn’t want to be a girl in my house.”
Twain, 57, told the UK outlet that she had a difficult childhood growing up in Ontario. He lived with his four siblings, his mother, Sharon, and his stepfather, Jerry Twain. She said that puberty and subsequent changes to her body put her at risk of even more abuse from Jerrywho said he was also abusing his mother.
It is not the first time that Twain has sincere about the alleged abuse by his stepfather.
In 2018, Shania said in an interview with The Guardian that the abuse It started when I was just 10 years old..
“I feel the Sexual abuse goes hand in hand with physical and psychological abuse. when it’s someone you know,” he said at the time. “I learned to block it. Abusers need to manipulate you, either sooner or later, and what I said to myself is, ‘OK, there is something wrong with this person and that person is not right.’
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He also referenced the alleged abuse in his 2011 memoir. From this momentand while doing press rounds to promote her book, she told ABC night line that he remembered witnessing Jerry dunking his mother’s head in a toilet.
“I thought he killed herTwain said at the time. “I really thought he’d drowned, or died, or he’d just smashed his head in and he’d never wake up. She… she seemed dead. She was unconscious, she was limp, hanging from him, you know, she, he had her hair in her hands.
“So I went through the shock and experience of actually believing that my mother had died at that moment,” she continued. “Also, because of the humiliation of how I thought she was killed, by drowning on a toilet seat. … It was very, very obviously very difficult to accept.”
Twain also said night line that he had very mixed feelings about Jerry. Despite the abuse that she said she witnessed and experienced, she also said that he taught her to be a good person.
“It was the Jekyll and Hyde in him that was the most torture,” he said. “I loved him and I highly respected what he did for us, being a hard worker, he set a great example. So I’m still confused. I’m baffled by all of that, I really am.”
Sharon and Jerry were killed in a car accident when Twain was 22, leaving her to raise her three younger siblings. She told The Sunday Times that she struggled with her relationship with her body for many years afterwards.
“Suddenly it was like, well, what’s your problem? You know, you are a woman and you have this beautiful body? What was so natural to other people was so terrifying to me. I felt exploited, but now I had no other choice. I had to play the glamorous singer, I had to carry my femininity more openly or more freely. And find out how I’m not going to be groped or raped by someone’s eyes, you know, and feel so degraded,” the singer said.
However, she said she gained confidence as she got into her 20s and learned to use her body language to communicate with people when she felt uncomfortable or didn’t want them near.
Twain also told the outlet that she’s been embracing her confidence as she’s gotten older, having fun with her performances, her career, and her fashion choices.
“I am celebrating escaping from this horrible state of not wanting to be who I am. And I’m so confident. Now that I found out that it’s okay to be a girl,” she shared. “The woman who doesn’t apologize is a very powerful person.”
On Tuesday, Twain announced that he would add a second stage to his queen of me tour, due to overwhelming demand.
An additional 19 shows will be added to the 2023 tour, including shows in Toronto, Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver. The tour starts at the end of April next year and will run until mid-November.
It is Twain’s first tour in almost five years and will feature 70 shows across North America and Europe. Tickets for additional shows will go on sale on December 16.
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If you or someone you know has been the victim of sexual assault or is involved in an abusive situation, visit the Canadian Resource Center for Victims of Crime for help They are also available toll-free at 1-877-232-2610.
Children’s Helpline: 1-800-668-6868; Their text messaging service is free and available throughout Canada 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. text CONNECT to 686868.
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