Selena Gomez is not ashamed that her body has changed over the years. The “Single Soon” singer, 31, took her to Instagram Stories on January 22 and shared two bikini pictures, one from the past, and one more recent, as she reflected on her body transformation. Alongside the first image, in which Selena wore a zebra bikini, the actress wrote, “Today I realized I will never look like this again.”
The second picture featured Selena wearing a white bikini top and a high-waisted bikini bottom. “I’m not perfect, but I am proud to be who I am… Sometimes I forget it’s ok to be me,” she wrote alongside the image.
Selena has been an advocate for body image positivity over the years. In October 2023, she explained in an interview with Fast Company that she felt “embarrassed” when she lost her “teenager’s body” from gaining weight. “There were those moments of not feeling positive about how I looked because of what I’d see on Instagram,” the Only Murders in the Building said, before adding how she used to think, “’Wow, I wish my body looked like that.’ ”
In February 2023, Selena told her fans in a TikTok that her lupus medication affects her weight. “[When I’m taking it, I] tend to hold a lot of water weight, and that happens very normally,” she said during a livestream. “When I’m off of it, I tend to lose weight. I just wanted to say and encourage anyone out there who feels any sort of shame for exactly what they’re going through, and no one knows the real story.”
“Not a model, never will be,” Selena also said in the TikTok, as she vouched against body shaming. “And I think they’re awesome, mind you. I’m just definitely not that. I just wanted to tell you I love you guys, and thanks for supporting me and understanding. And if not, go away, ’cause honestly I don’t believe in shaming people for [their bodies] or anything.”
The former Disney Channel actress was diagnosed with lupus in 2014. Lupus is an autoimmune condition that causes chronic inflammation in many parts of the body, and can result in weight gain. Selena opened up about her health condition, which still affects her to this day, in her 2022 Apple TV+ documentary, My Mind & Me.