Shawn Mendes struggled with body dysmorphia after topless photoshoot

Shawn Mendes opened up about his battle with body dysmorphia (Picture: Getty)

This is Shawn Mendes’s own tip for how to look good naked — don’t believe everything that you see.

The Canadian heartthrob revealed that previously stripping off for Calvin Klein left him with ‘body dysmorphia through trying to be that person all the time’.

Giving his birthday suit another try behind a guitar, the 22-year-old said: ‘I was shirtless on a billboard. Any shoot where you’re basically “sexy” in any way can really mess with your psyche because you’re struggling every day to live up to that guy.

‘The lighting was there, you have makeup and a hairstylist there. People are there to make you look amazing. But realistically, you can’t really fit the shoes of that person in that photo — even as that person.’

He added: ‘It’s interesting because I know that there’s a lot of struggle in comparison culture.

‘It’s important for me to say that even as the person in the photo, I can’t be the person in the photo. So, striving to be that person is not fair to anybody.’

Back to bass-ics: Shawn Mendes poses with tactfully placed guitar (Picture:MAX MONTGOMERY/WONDERLAND)

Shawn even warned lover Camila Cabello not to get excited.

The Wonder singer recounted: ‘I ran down from the shoot being like, “Damn, these photos are really awesome but I can’t live up to that guy!” And that was the first thing I told her and she understood that completely.’

He also admitted comparing himself to other artists — ‘which is not helpful at all’ — and struggles with the internet’s validation culture.

Shawn previously stripped off for Calvin Klein (Picture: Instagram)

‘Last night it broke me and I was like, “I’m not going to go on Instagram at all. I need rehab from social media for a week”,’ he told Wonderland magazine.

But he has been going to therapy twice a week and trying ‘different types’ to deal with his struggles.

Shawn added: ‘You have to be really open and okay with being messed up sometimes. That’s when you start to make serious progress.’

Read the full interview in the new issue of Wonderland magazine at wonderlandshop.com.

More Guilty Pleasures…

Off the table! James alters game after Asian food row

James Corden is changing his menu after his Late Late Show was accused of being ‘anti-Asian’.

The British TV star makes his US talk show guests eat gross grub in segment Spill Your Guts or Fill Your Guts.

James Corden’s show was accused of being ‘anti-Asian’ (Picture: CBS)

But 50,000 have signed a Change.org petition claiming he is mocking food ‘regularly eaten by Asian people’.

Corden, 42, said ‘we hear you’, adding: ‘The next time we do that bit, we absolutely won’t involve or use any of those foods. It’s not for us to determine whether somebody is upset or hurt.’

Sheer cheek…Ed’s risque prank

What a gimp! Ed Sheeran has claimed he is the reason pal Courteney Cox has a dozen S&M masks at home.

The Bad Habits singer said he pranked the Friends actress, 57, after she showed him how she ordered deliveries on her Alexa app.

Ed Sheeran revealed Courteney Cox has ‘maybe 12’ gimp masks

‘So, she walks out the room, and I go, “Alexa, order me a leather gimp mask,” ’ explained new dad Ed, 30. ‘Courteney’s assistant opened the post, and she finds this mask and goes, “Oh, I don’t think I was meant to see that”, and leaves it on Courteney’s bed.’

He added on James Corden’s Late Late Show: ‘Anyway, she found out the story, and now every time I go back there, I order her another gimp mask. And she has maybe 12.’

■ He’s just got engaged — but 5 Seconds of Summer star Luke Hemmings is going solo by releasing his own tunes away from the Aussie band. On the first track, about lost memories, the singer, 24, said: ‘You’re reflecting on your youth and all of the madness and craziness. It’s like you’re forgetting so many pieces of your life.’

■ That’s too Brad! Andra Day has denied she is the one keeping Brad Pitt warm at night, saying: ‘We’ve never met.’ After rumours the pair connected at last month’s Oscars, The United States vs. Billie Holiday actress and singer, 36, added: ‘We’re not dating. We don’t even know each other… Somebody was bored that day.’

■ Britney Spears has assured fans she is working on her wellbeing after she shocked the world by sharing the legal constraints her dad Jamie makes her live under. After jetting to Hawaii, she and toyboy Sam Asghari, 27, have hit the gym. Sharing their workout, the Slave 4 U singer, 39, said: ‘Mental and physical health comes before anything at this point.’

More: Metro newspaper

■ Cara Delevingne refuses to feel embarrassed about those pics of her taking a sex bench into her house with her ex-girlfriend, Pretty Little Liars star Ashley Benson. ‘I will walk out with many sex benches as a means to continue doing what I do,’ said the model, 28 — who admitted things ended during the pandemic because ‘it was the most trying time’.

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