Christina Aguilera Says She Was Forced To Be "Toothpick Thin" In 2002

Right Image: Rolling Stone

Gone are the days of Xtina fitting into the mold!

Christina Aguilera appears on the Sept. 29 cover of Billboard magazine, and the Grammy winning singer opened up about the scrutiny over her weight and the pressure she was put under to stay a certain size.

"During the promotion of my album Stripped [in 2002], I got tired of being a skinny, white girl. I am Ecuadorian but people felt so safe passing me off as a skinny, blue-eyed white girl. The next time my label saw me, I was heavier, darker and full of piercings! Let me tell you, that wasn't an easy pill for them to swallow. I had gained about 15 pounds during promotion and during my Stripped tour [with Justin Timberlake]. They called this serious emergency meeting about how there was a lot of backlash about my weight. Basically, they told me I would effect a lot of people if I gained weight - the production, musical directors," she explained of the criticism from the music industry.

"[They claimed] people I toured with would also miss out if I gained weight because I would sell no records or tickets for my shows. I was so young, so I lost the weight quickly and was toothpick thin during Back to Basics promos and touring," she adds.

Now that she's older and wiser, the blonde beauty is taking back ownership of her appearance and refusing to let anyone muscle her around.

"I told them during this Lotus recording, 'You are working with a fat girl. Know it now and get over it.' They need a reminder sometimes that I don't belong to them. It's my body. My body can't put anyone in jeopardy of not making money anymore - my body is just not on the table that way anymore," she confesses of her independence making her new record.

So what can we expect from The Voice coach's new tunes?

"Once I started writing my own songs, beginning with Stripped, I tried to infuse as much as I could to promote strength and inspire people with that message. And now I'm at a place at 31, where the last time I felt this way was when I was 21 with Stripped and I had a lot to say and a lot to express," she reveals.

You tell 'em girl!