Camila Cabello's body-positive mantra has changed Shawn Mendes' relationship with his body

At 24 years old, Camila Cabello already has several hit songs and Grammy nominations to her name, and now that she'll be taking the lead in the upcoming Cinderella musical – an updated take that even as her considering wearing a pantsuit to the ball – her star is about to get bigger.

Cabello talked all this and more in a new profile for Bustle, including the way, as an individual in the public eye, she has become a frequent victim of body-shaming. For instance, when paparazzi photos of her and boyfriend Shawn Mendes at the beach were published this past June, and social media criticized her "bikini body."

“‘This hurts so bad,’” she remembers thinking. “The whole day I felt insecure. I felt like it was changing how I was thinking about food and eating... really messing me up.”

After another instance of this, she posted a now-viral TikTok in July, in which she described suddenly growing self-conscious about her body while going for a run, "but then I was like... of course there are bad pictures, of course there are bad angles, my body's not made of f**king rock, or all muscle, for that matter, but the saddest part of young girls growing up in an airbrushed world is they're seeking a perfection that's not real."

“I actually felt so liberated when I posted that," Cabello tells Bustle. "After that, I went to the airport and so many women were coming up to me like, ‘I saw that TikTok and it resonated with me so much.' I actually feel my body insecurities went down after I posted that because I was like, ‘No matter what pictures come out or what people say, I’m now controlling the narrative.’”

Therapy has also helped the way she feels about her body and health, saying, “You can work out a few hours a day and never eat carbs and whatever, but that’s just not a balanced life. That’s not what I want. … I can’t change to fit that mold.”

As a fan of more unconventional style choices also, she said, “I’m going to wear whatever, and if there’s paparazzi around, that sucks, but I’m not going to completely reroute who I am for that.”

That positive attitude has been infectious, inspiring Mendes, too, to overcome his anxiety about maintaining his own physique as he is also a young star with a considerable fanbase.

In a 2020 interview with British GQ, Mendes said he often only got three hours of sleep a night in order to spend more time in the gym, and was worried that if he'd lose that workout, he'd also lose fans. Then he saw how Cabello handled her body-shamers, and told GQ, “So strong, so clear and confident with her [body] and so articulate and empathetic about other people’s… It really changed my view of mine."

Speaking with Bustle, Cabello explained, “[He] would tell me like, ‘Dang, I have these kinds of thoughts or whatever.’ I think that him talking about it has been a really big step in transforming that relationship with his body. I certainly feel obsessive, [like] I need to go to the gym, I need to do this, I need to lose weight quickly. I’ve felt like that. That’s the societal voice in your head.”

So now? She's got her very own mantra: “Being at war with your body is so last season.” Amen.

BEFORE YOU GO: Lizzo speaks out about body positivity in the music industry

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