Michelle McManus has said she believes her pop career was held back because she was not considered “attractive to men” at the height of her fame.
The singer, 45, who won the second series of Pop Idol in 2003, made the comments during an appearance on Good Morning Britain on Thursday.
McManus was on the ITV show to discuss her new BBC documentary Michelle McManus Sings for the Pope, but the conversation turned to her early career and the pressures she faced in the industry.
Reflecting on that period, she said: “You’ve got to remember, in the early noughties, to be a woman who looked like me, it was just ‘computer says no’.
“It was very much through the male gaze at that point, and I wasn’t seen as someone who was attractive to men, or someone men would want a relationship with.
“So it didn’t really matter how many people voted for me — it was a case of, ‘we don’t know what to do with you… you’re not attractive enough’.”
McManus added that she is grateful social media did not exist during her rise to fame, saying she believes it would have had a damaging impact on her mental health.
“One of the things I’m so grateful for is there was no social media at that point,” she said. “The press was intense enough — I think being able to go on my phone and see that would have been so damaging.”
The singer, now a mother of two, also shared her concerns about young people using social media.
“I can barely deal with social media,” she said. “Unless companies can demonstrate they are going to take this seriously and protect kids online, I’m not convinced.
“It’s a dark hole to go down — it’s hard to navigate.”
Her upcoming BBC Scotland documentary, which airs on April 3, follows what has been described as a “deeply personal journey of faith, music and purpose”.
The programme sees McManus travel from Glasgow to Rome, where she performs a specially commissioned hymn, Because, including at events attended by Pope Francis.
Speaking about the experience, she said: “It was truly one of the greatest honours of my life.”
BBC Scotland commissioning executive Steve Allen described the film as “a moving and uplifting programme”, adding it makes “perfect viewing for Easter”.
McManus has also spoken openly about her health journey in recent years, revealing she lost nine stone over 17 months after changing her lifestyle, saying the key was finding “the right support” rather than a “magic wand”.
