She didn’t have sex until she was in her 30s … after she was a household name.
From time to time, Lizzo has confessed things that fans simply didn’t want to know.
This admission, however, might help people overcome shame.
Lizzo explains that there were multiple factors behind her “late bloomer” status — including a promise that she made, early in her career.
Virginity is a social construct, and it’s been with Lizzo for most of her life
On the Tuesday, March 31 episode of the Friends Keep Secrets podcast, Lizzo had a confession to make.
Speaking to hosts Benny Blanco, Lil Dicky, and Kristin Batalucco, the 37-year-old singer admitted that she first had sex in her 30s — waiting until after she won her first Grammy Award.
“I was a late bloomer,” Lizzo admitted. “I lied about it for a long time.”
The hosts tried to guess when the music superstar first swiped her V-card.
Lizzo ended the speculation, sharing that it happened in 2020 — by which point she was already immensely famous.
“Isn’t that crazy?” Lizzo remarked in reference to herself.
“I wasn’t even thinking about it,” she then admitted.
Lizzo revealed: “I promised myself when I was younger that I wouldn’t have sex until I won a Grammy.”
The room erupted in laughter, Lil Dicky asked if Lizzo would have caved if she’d never won the prestigious award.
Lizzo clarified that she didn’t have someone waiting in the wings in case she won that night, clarifying: “It was not the night of the Grammys.” But it was soon after.
And yes, she had to bluff her way through it along the way
Lizzo admitted to having cringe memories of being evasive and outright lying in college, when she attended the University of Houston.
“I feel a weight off of my chest right now,” she expressed. “It was so embarrassing.”
Lizzo recalled: “I was in a friend group of girls. We were all girling one night and it was like, ‘Wait, Lizzo are you a virgin?’”
Naturally, she did the only reasonable thing that she could have done under the circumstances: she lied.
“And I remember being like, ‘No!’” she shared. “I was remember it was so embarrassing. I said, ‘I love the D’ … And it held me over for a little while.”
As Lizzo continued to explain, it became clear that there were elements of religious indoctrination — and perhaps trauma — behind her “late bloomer” status.
“Ya’ll have no idea. It was religious for me, too,” she admitted. “Like, when we were teenagers at my church, we all made a pact that we wouldn’t do anything before marriage.”
Lizzo added: “And then, I was just so scared. Like, nobody wanted to kiss me.”
At 21, she got her first kiss, but it was awful — and happened against her will.
“I was actually very upset about it,” Lizzo shared. “It was a New Year’s Eve thing and he forced it on me. I was really mad and I was like, ‘My first kiss is ruined.’ I was so mad.”
It’s sad that society pushed so many toxic ideas on her (and on so many others)
The 62nd Annual Grammy Awards ceremony took place on January 26, 2020.
As people may recall, Lizzo didn’t win just one Grammy. She won three.
For “Truth Hurts,” she won Best Pop Solo Performance. For the deluxe version of “Cuz I Love You,” she won Best Urban Contemporary Album. And for “Jerome,” she won Best Traditional R&B Performance.
Virginity is a social construct, one with varying definitions. There is no moral value to having more or less sex — only to living in an authentic way that makes you happy.
It is tragic that we live in a society where people like Lizzo felt as adolescents that their healthy desires were shameful, and that she also feared that she was undesirable. But perhaps her story can help others feel less ashamed.