Source : Perth Now news
Media personality Carrie Bickmore says she doesn’t know “how to think or feel” about recent videos of American singer Ariana Grande, who is stepping away from the public eye after increasing concerns about her health.
The 33-year-old singer and actor, who is on a world tour, raised alarm bells after releasing her eighth album and accompanying video clip, with many saying she appeared severely underweight.
Speaking on the Carrie and Tommy show, Bickmore said her daughters “idolise” the Wicked star, but discussing her health issues wouldn’t be easy.
“The first thing I thought when I saw the clip of Ariana, and I’ve now showed it to you as well, was oh my God, I hope she’s OK,” Bickmore said.
“She looked so unwell and so frail in this clip.”
Bickmore said she was planning to show the clip to her young daughters but wasn’t sure how she would bring up the subject of Grande’s “frail” figure.
“I didn’t know what I was meant to say to my girls,” she said.
“I didn’t know whether I was mean to say, ‘I don’t want you to ever look like that’ (and) ‘she doesn’t look well’ or meant to ask them, ‘How do you think she looks?’”
Bickmore said she was facing a “weird conundrum” about talking to her daughters about Grande’s appearance.
“I don’t want them focusing on her body, I want them focusing on her talent,” she said.
“Cause she’s incredibly talented and she’s such a hard worker and that’s what I want the focusing on.”
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Mum of three, Shannon, who called in to the radio station, said a parent’s “first responsibility is always to our children”.
“I think one of the challenges in society today is with all of the things that you can’t judge and comment on and agree to the inappropriateness of commenting on someone’s body online, it should not stop us from having open and honest conversations in our home,” she said.
“That’s supposed to be a safe space for our kids.”
The singer is completing her worldwide Eternal Sunshine tour and confirmed she would be “taking a step back from visibility” once it was over, citing mounting “scrutiny” about her health.
“She looks forward to finishing the tour and ending it on a high note, both healthily and happily, and then taking a much-deserved break from public-facing work and appearances, which has led to endless, ongoing public scrutiny,” her team said in a statement.
