Luke Combs Opens Up About Body Image Struggles & Why He Doesn’t Take Weight-Loss Drugs: ‘I’m Not Gonna Do It the Short Way’
In a Popcast interview, the country star shares his fears about whether his appearance could have prevented his music career.
Luke Combs on 'Popcast'
Luke Combs is getting vulnerable, and his fans are happy to see it.
On Tuesday (Feb. 24), the country singer joined music critic Jon Caramanica and reporter Joe Coscarelli on the latest installment of Popcast, the New York Times podcast on all things music. In the episode, the trio discuss a range of topics, including Combs’ Billboard Hot 100 No. 2 cover of Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car,” his earliest musical influences, and politics in country music.
Toward the end of the interview, the hosts have Combs pick a card from a standard deck. Whichever card he chose determined a pre-written question he must answer. When the singer pulled out the 4 of spades, Caramanica asked him, “What self-doubt did you face on the way to stardom?”
In a moment of extreme vulnerability, Combs responded by speaking openly about his struggles with body image. “Definitely my appearance,” he replied. “It was like, am I really not going to get a shot because I’m just like a bigger dude or whatever?”
He continued on to say that while he had full confidence in his ability to perform and write songs, he feared that he would not get a shot at stardom because of the way he looks. “That was, like, a hard pill to swallow, ’cause you can’t really change the way you look,” he said.
In response, Coscarelli asked if anyone from Combs’ team had ever tried to change his image or if the singer felt pressure to wake up one day looking like fellow country star Sam Hunt.
Combs explained that he has changed aspects of his diet, including fasting and going gluten-free, which has helped him alleviate some symptoms of his OCD as well as fight insulin resistance. “The gluten-free thing started for mental health stuff,” he said. “I have a really rare form of OCD that I have struggled with quite a bit for basically my whole life.”
Though these changes have helped Combs with some of his struggles, he continues to battle with his weight. “I have always struggled with my weight. It bugs me a lot that I can’t figure it out,” he said.
He then went on to explain that he’s trying to do it all: take care of himself physically and mentally, be a good dad to his three kids, and do his job as a performer. He admits that it’s hard, but he’d prefer that over taking what he views as the easy way out.
“I don’t want my life to be this life of ease,” he said. “I like when stuff’s hard.”
It’s part of the reason why he personally chooses to avoid taking weight-loss drugs. He says that though his path to success was difficult, because he enjoyed it, he doesn’t feel as if he’s done anything truly hard in his life.
“Sure there were days that were tough. Sure there were times I was tired,” he said. “But I’m not out digging ditches. It’s not that hard of a job.”
To him, the struggle with body image has been the one thing he can’t conquer.
“And I will do it; but I’m not gonna do it the short way,” he said before acknowledging that there’s nothing wrong with that — this is just how he wants to do it. Watch a clip of the moment below:
Following the release of the episode, Popcast shared a truncated version of the body image discussion to their Instagram page, and many fans took to the comments to share support for Combs and applaud his openness, including several folks in the industry.
“I really love him,” fellow country star Brandi Carlile commented.
“As a fellow huge dude in showbiz instead of digging ditches, I feel so seen by this and really appreciate it,” commented folk singer Willi Carlisle.
“I really appreciate the honesty,” replied model and singer Gabriella Lascano.
That level of honesty may make its way on to Combs’ forthcoming album, The Way I Am, releasing on March 20. Watch the full episode below:
