One of America’s Got Talent’s youngest ever child stars now looks totally unrecognisable after launching a major comeback.
Jackie Evancho was just 10 years old when she shot to fame on Simon Cowell’s US talent show spin-off, wowing the audience and the judges with her penchant for classical music.
She placed second in the 2010 season of the show after wowing with renditions of O Mio Babbino Caro and Time to Say Goodbye.
READ MORE: Steven Spielberg’s daughter ditches ’embarrassing’ adult career her dad ‘expected’
But things started to go downhill after Jackie was catapulted to fame. While she was recording albums and headlining concerts – even being interviewed by Oprah – she was struggling with an eating disorder behind the scenes.
(Image: NBCUniversal via Getty Images)
In a new interview with the New York Post, Jackie confessed: “Growing up in the spotlight, there was a lot of pressure. There were times that I would cry because I wanted to hang out with my siblings and friends and just be a kid, but I had to work.”
When she was 15, she became convinced her stomach looked fat.
She said: “It triggered something in my head. And from that point forward, I was trying to lose weight in any way possible. I tried the healthy way — slightly decreasing the caloric intake, working out, eating healthy — but I wasn’t getting the results I wanted quickly enough, and it just spiralled from there.
(Image: officialjackieevancho/Instagram)
“I felt like crap every day. I didn’t have any energy to keep up with my personal life and my work life. Eventually, I had to stop performing because I was in a treatment centre.”
After that, Jackie tried another treatment centre after relapsing, and a 2021 car accident revealed her anorexia had led to early osteoporosis, with doctors warning the star she has the “bones of an 80-year-old”.
Amid her journey to getting healthier and recovering, Jackie has relaunched her music career with a new single, and looks totally unrecognisable.
(Image: GC Images)
For more of the latest showbiz news from Daily Star, make sure you sign up to one of our newsletters here.
With long honey-blonde hair falling in loose waves down past her shoulders, the star looks incredible at the age of 23.
In one promotional snap for her latest interview, she rocked a see-through mesh corset and black trousers, adding a gold-looped belt and a chain necklace around her throat.
Her latest single, Behind My Eyes, launches next week and “touches upon mental illness”, along with other “darker” issues.
If you’re worried about your health or the health of somebody else, you can contact SEED eating disorder support service on 01482 718130 or on their website, https://seedeatingdisorders.org.uk.
Follow Daily Star on Threads here.
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
