Shania Twain is speaking openly about body image, aging and the point when trying to stay thin became harmful instead of empowering.
The country-pop icon said in a new interview that menopause changed the way she sees herself after years of struggling with her body. People reported that Twain looked back on a difficult period during her 2019 Las Vegas residency, when she avoided mirrors and pushed herself through unhealthy routines in an effort to stay thinner.
Twain, 60, said the physical changes that came with aging left her feeling out of control at the time. She told The Times that the methods she had relied on earlier in life no longer worked the same way.
The singer now says menopause helped her let go of that fight. Instead of treating her body as something to force back into an older version, Twain described reaching a point where she could accept changes she could not control.
Twain Said She Stopped Looking in the Mirror
Twain told The Times that she went through a period when she could not stand seeing her changing body. People reported that she said she “stopped looking” at herself in the mirror and hated what was happening physically.
That period coincided with her 2019 Las Vegas residency. Twain said she did “very unhealthy things” in an effort to be thinner, according to People, and described working her body harder than she was feeding it.
People reported that Twain said she was malnourished at the time and that the strain made an onstage injury worse. Business Insider, also citing The Times interview, reported that the singer later had to reevaluate her relationship with her body during a long recovery from the injury.
Twain did not frame that chapter as discipline or glamour. She described it as a harmful period that left her physically depleted and emotionally disconnected from her own reflection.
Menopause Changed How She Saw Control
Twain now sees that period differently. She told The Times that menopause has been “very good” for her because it taught her that some physical changes cannot be controlled.
The shift changed how she responded to her body. People reported that Twain joked she now wants to look at herself “all day long,” a sharp contrast from the time when she avoided mirrors.
Twain also connected the change to fear. She told People in earlier comments about body confidence that fear can hold people back from enjoying their own bodies, and that she wanted to stop carrying shame into the next stage of her life.
Her Confidence Has Been Building for Years
This is not the first time Twain has connected aging with a stronger sense of self. People reported that she previously spoke about posing nude for the cover art of her 2023 album Queen of Me, saying she wanted to remember the moment when she finally felt less afraid of her body.
The new interview arrives as Twain prepares another reflective music chapter. Her upcoming album, Little Miss Twain, is due July 24 through Republic Nashville, according to uDiscover Music.
The album’s lead single, “Dirty Rosie,” has already been released. uDiscover Music described the project as a return to Twain’s roots, drawing on country, pop, rock, soul and bluegrass.
In a statement about the album, Twain said much of Little Miss Twain reflects her teenage years, her roots and the rock and R&B she loved while growing up in a different world from the Western lifestyle she once imagined.