Shania Twain Reveals How Being Sexually Abused By Her Stepfather Affected Her – ‘I Hated My Body’

The country music star Shania Twain has been open about allegedly being molested by her stepfather Jerry from the time she was 10 years-old. In a new interview, Twain has revealed that it took her years to learn to love her body after this sexual abuse.

‘I Hated My Body’

“When I was fondled as a child, it made me retreat from ever wanting to grow into becoming a woman,” Twain, 57, told The Mirror. “I hated my body.”

Daily Mail reported that it was for this reason that Twain decided to pose topless for the promotional artwork for her latest album “Queen of Me,” which is set to drop on Friday.

“I went into the most uncomfortable scenario I could think of, which was a photoshoot without my clothes on,” she said. “And that’s what I did. I just faced it head-on. It’s probably something I should have done much earlier in my life but it feels like I’ve turned a corner – a very important one. It’s about self-empowerment and taking charge of your fears.”

Twain’s stepfather was killed in a car crash along with her mother Sharon back in 1987. Twain never knew her biological father. 

Related: Shania Twain, 57, Opens Up About Being Sexually Abused By Her Stepfather – ‘He Would Fondle Me’

‘Double-Edged Sword’

In another interview earlier this month, Twain credited her early hardships with making her the woman that she is today, describing this as being “a double-edged sword.”

“There’s elements of that, of going through all those difficulties that make you stronger,” she told the “Today” show. “What you survive makes you stronger, but on the other hand you develop insecurities.”

In this same interview, Twain opened up about her topless photoshoot.

“It’s a way of really about saying, listen, I was abused when I was a kid, my father would fondle me up on the top and make me go without a shirt, and I was already maturing,” she said.

While she wanted to “escape” her skin as a child, Twain is thriving in it all these years later. 

“I’m happy in my own skin. It’s the only skin I have, so I don’t have a choice,” she added. “It’s time to start loving myself in my own skin and really embracing that and not being embarrassed of it or shy of it.”

‘I Would Flatten My Boobs’

Twain also said that because of her stepfather’s molestation of her, she went above and beyond to try to go “unnoticed” in her own home.

“I hid myself, and I would flatten my boobs. I would wear bras that were too small for me, and I’d wear two, play it down until there was nothing girl about me,” Twain recalled last month, according to The New York Post. “Make it easier to go unnoticed. Because, oh my gosh, it was terrible — you didn’t want to be a girl in my house.”

“It took a long time to manage that anger. You don’t want to be somebody that attacks me on the street,” she continued. “Because I will f–king rip your head off if I get the chance.”

Full Story: Shania Twain Reveals She Flattened Her Breasts To Save Herself From Being Sexually Abused By Her Stepfather

What happened to Twain as a child was nothing short of horrifying, but we’re glad to see that she seems to have been able to rise above it. We can’t wait to check out her new album when it comes out later this week!