Meghan Trainor has revealed she has been battling a panic disorder and is taking antidepressants.
The All About That Bass singer and former coach on The Voice UK, 27, said she had her first panic attack during a live television appearance in 2016.
She told US magazine People she was on CBS This Morning with presenter Gayle King to announce the Grammy nominees when the attack happened.
She said: “I was announcing the nominees, and I was vibrating. I felt like I was going to pass out on live television.
“I was like, ‘What’s happening? I must be dying.’
“As soon as they said ‘Cut,’ I went offstage and was [gasping for air] in front of everyone.
“Gayle was my email buddy after that and always checked in on me.
“I was so embarrassed and apologised, but she made everything so much better for me. She’s an angel on this earth.”
A few months later, Trainor, who is married to Spy Kids star Daryl Sabara, had a second surgery for vocal cord haemorrhaging, and while she was on vocal rest, she worried she would never sing again.
She said: “I was in a dark place, I had everything I wanted – I had the love of my life – but mentally and physically I felt ill.”
After multiple trips to hospital for physical symptoms, Trainor was diagnosed with panic disorder.
She said: “Some nights I remember I ate a bunch of food, then I got scared, and I was like, ‘I need to go to the emergency room because I’m allergic to what I just ate.’
“The doctor came in, looked really sad, and was like, ‘Have you ever heard of a panic attack?’
“I was like, ‘No, no, no, I’m having an allergic reaction. If you just look in the back of my throat, it’s closing.’
“That was my first lesson on what a panic attack can do to you.”
Trainor said medication and therapy have been a big help, adding: “With the panic [attacks], you literally feel like you’re vibrating non-stop. But everything just got quiet, and I was back to my normal self.
“I’m not ashamed to say I’m on antidepressants.
“That medicine saved me, saved my life, saved my career. I’m back better than ever.”
