G.E.M. opens up about her struggle with body image

​Hong Kong singer G.E.M. guested on a recent episode of the reality show The Rap of China, where she debuted her new song, ‘Real Talk’. The song was created as a tribute to Chinese rapper MC HotDog’s ‘Mr Almost’, which was released in 2008. According to G.E.M., she saw the rapper’s live performance of the song two years ago on The Rap of China.

“At that time, I felt that the performance was way too cool, I gave him 100 points immediately in my heart,” she shared, adding that the performance was the reason why she released ‘Real Talk’.

G.E.M. later performed ‘Real Talk’ live on the show, to much fanfare. The song, which aims to encourage both men and women not to lose themselves while pursuing beauty standards, was positively received by the audience, as well as the general public.

Sharing more about the inspiration behind her new song, G.E.M. revealed, “I brainwashed myself into thinking that I had to be slim in order to be considered pretty. However, no matter what I did, I always felt that I wasn’t thin enough even when I was already eating extremely bland food. Whenever I snacked, even just a bit, I’ll feel extremely guilty."

However, the pressure she put on herself had an adverse effect, and she ended up overeating and gaining weight instead. As her weight increase, G.E.M’s physical and emotional state deteriorated.

Eventually, she managed to force herself to eat normally, which allowed her weight to return to normal as well.

“I managed to slim down while being happy and healthy. Before this, whenever I managed to slim down, I was very listless, and my weight yo-yoed constantly. Now, although I've put on weight, I am happy, and I don’t put myself under such undue pressure, unlike last time,” the singer said.