Billie Eilish has spoken about living with Tourette’s Syndrome in a new Netflix interview.
(Picture: AFP via Getty Images)Billie Eilish has opened up about living with Tourette’s Syndrome in a new interview.
Speaking with David Letterman for his Netflix series, "My Next Guest Needs No Introduction," the 20-year-old singer spoke candidly about her experience growing up with Tourette’s.
Eilish experienced a tic during the interview brought on by the lights, and said: “If you film me for long enough, you’re going to see lots of tics.”
She explained that: “The most common way people react is they laugh, because they think that I’m trying to be funny.
“And I’m always left incredibly offended by that.”
Eilish went on to say: “What’s funny is so many people have it that you would never know,” and that a couple of artists have told her that they also have Tourette’s.
She told Letterman: “I really love answering questions about it, because it’s very, very interesting. And I am incredibly confused by it. I don’t get it.”
The singer has had small tics since she was a child but was diagnosed when she was 11. She said she has tics every day but they’re often not something anyone else would notice, although it’s “exhausting” for her.
Eilish told Letterman: “It’s not like I like it but I feel like it’s part of me,” and that she had “made friends with it.”
Eilish first spoke about having Tourette’s in 2018, after she had tics during a video interview.
The singer explained in an interview with Ellen Degeneres in 2019 that she would normally “let out” her tics when the interviewer asks their questions because they normally cut the questions out in the final edit.
However, one video interview included the interviewer’s questions, and consequently Eilish’s tics. Eilish then began to speak openly about having Tourette’s.
Speaking on the Ellen Show, she said: “It’s something I’ve lived with my whole life, and everybody knows.
“Like everybody in my family, all my friends, all the people that are closest to me know I have it, and it’s not anything different, you know?”
She also explained that she hadn’t previously spoken about Tourette’s before as she didn’t want it to define who she was.
What is Tourette’s Syndrome?
Tourette’s syndrome is “a condition that causes a person to make involuntary sounds and movements called tics,” according to the NHS.
Tourette’s typically starts during childhood but symptoms usually improve and sometimes go away completely. And although there is no cure for Tourette’s, but treatment can help manage symptoms.
Examples of physical tics include blinking, eye-rolling, grimacing, shoulder shrugging, jerking of the head or limbs, jumping, twirling, and touching objects and other people.
Examples of vocal tics include grunting, throat clearing, whistling, coughing, tongue clicking, animal sounds, saying random words and phrases, repeating a sound, word or phrase, or swearing, although swearing is rare.
Tics can be worse on some days than others and can be made worse by stress, anxiety or tiredness.
