Elle King says her recent autism diagnosis helped her understand parts of herself that had not fully made sense before.
Us Weekly reported that King spoke about the diagnosis while promoting Fox’s new celebrity competition series Nation’s Dumbest.
AOL also covered her comments, in which King said everything started to make more sense after she learned she is autistic.
King Learned About the Diagnosis After Filming
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King said she loves games, puzzles and competition, which made Nation’s Dumbest a natural fit at first. But after filming the show, she said she found out she is autistic and began looking back at the experience differently.
“Everything makes so much sense now,” King told Us Weekly, adding that she did not know at the time she filmed the Fox series.
The diagnosis gave her a new way to understand herself. She described it as information that helped explain why certain things in her life had felt harder or more confusing.
The Show Made Her Question Herself
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Nation’s Dumbest puts celebrities through school-themed challenges where the goal is to avoid ending up as the last contestant standing. Fox describes the series as a competition where “winning is the last thing anyone wants,” because the final celebrity left earns the title no one wants.
King admitted that before the show, she panicked at the thought that she could actually be labeled “the nation’s dumbest.”
That anxiety pushed her to test herself. King told Us Weekly she took an IQ test, scored 132, doubted the result and then took another test that returned the same score.
She Is Building New Boundaries
King said her diagnosis has changed how she thinks about safety, joy and the people around her. She told Us Weekly she is putting “new kinds of safety barricades” in place and wants to spend time with people who make her feel safe.
King is describing how a new diagnosis is helping her decide what kind of work, company and environment she wants in her next chapter.
She also connected the diagnosis to a broader effort to stop moving through life the same way. King said she wants to enjoy being an artist, a performer and herself more fully.
King Is Still Figuring It Out
King said she is still learning what the diagnosis means for her. She also said she does not want to keep doing things the old way, because she wants to be more present in whatever comes next.
Nation’s Dumbest, hosted by Jack Whitehall, premiered on Fox on July 15 and streams the next day on Hulu.