After rising to fame in 2014 with breakout single ‘All About That Bass’ Meghan Trainor has learnt a lot about the ups and downs of stardom. Now a judge on ITV’s The Voice UK, Meghan shares her personal journey with Happiful Magazine, including how she’s learning to love herself.

In February’s Happiful, the UK’s magazine devoted to mental health, Meghan Trainor opens up about the severe panic attacks and anxiety she experienced after two vocal cord operations, at the beginning of her career.

In 2016, having just won the Best New Artist Grammy, Meghan was forced to have vocal cord surgery that left her questioning the future of her music career.

“I thought, ‘It’s over, I’m not going to sing ever again’” she says describing the crippling effect of this on her mental health. “I went full dive into the dark zone of deep thoughts.”

Today Meghan speaks openly about this period in her life, but at the time she found it hard to articulate the struggle she was going through. US Television Host Carson Daly helped her, describing publicly how anxiety affects people physically as well as mentally, and Meghan’s feelings started to make more sense. “I’ve never heard anyone explain it so well,” she reflects.

Meghan sought therapy and now says she hasn’t had a panic attack for “probably more than a year”. She also reveals that she went to a hypnotherapist to cure her of repeatedly and anxiously picking the skin on her fingers, a nervous habit that made her feel insecure on the red carpet.

She’s now keen to encourage others to reach out for support, knowing first-hand the positive impact it had on her. “I can say I’m so much better. I know what triggers me now. If I don’t get sleep, and my body’s exhausted, it confuses my brain with panic. I can listen to my body more now,” Meghan shares.

Her recent challenge has been navigating her new role on The Voice UK. Meghan initially expressed worries over whether people would recognise her to fellow judge Olly Murs, who she recalls reassured her. “He said 'I know exactly how you feel. I felt the same way, but you’ll be surprised, everyone will know who you are.' He was so good to me,” she explains, describing him as her “new best friend”.

Despite Meghan’s concerns with taking the leap to The Voice UK, her job as a judge on the prime time show is one she has come to adore, because of the ability to be her authentic self. Reflecting on her new role, she adds: “I Iove doing TV, because I don’t have to go up there and act, to pretend I’m someone else.”

Meghan’s full interview is in the February issue of Happiful on sale Thursday 23rd January.

The Voice is on ITV, Saturdays at 8.30pm

This month’s issue of Happiful Magazine also features interviews with Dr Rangan Chatterjee who talks about his book, Feel Good In 5 and celebrity chef Tom Kerridge discusses his decision to put his health first. Beauty blogger Tess Daly shares her thoughts on being a role model, and columnist Grace Victory focuses on overcoming trauma in her latest column.

Happiful is the UK’s magazine devoted to promoting a better conversation around mental health and illness.

The magazine is free in a digital format, to everyone who subscribes at happiful.com

The digital version of the magazine is also available on Happiful’s mobile app.

For more information about Happiful, images and extracts please contact PR Officer Alice Greedus on alice.greedus@happiful.com

Notes To Editors

Read more of Happiful Magazine on supermarket shelves nationwide on Thursday 23 January and online at happiful.com. An extract of Meghan’s interview in Happiful magazine will be available on happiful.com.

Happiful magazine is available in major supermarkets and at shop.happiful.com

Happiful Magazine was established in March 2017 and exists to provide a supportive community, and continue conversations about mental health and illness -  sharing stories from members of the public, people in the public eye and professionals from therapeutic industries.

Happiful magazine is supported by the Happiful family - including Counselling Directory, Life Coach Directory and Hypnotherapy Directory - which enables free distribution of the e-edition of the magazine to more than 90,000 people every month.