Singer Ellie Goulding reckons she has found a sweet solution to combat her anxiety – cuddles with her baby son Arthur.
The Love Me Like You Do star says crippling panic attacks have “dictated quite a lot of my life and career”.
And while becoming a mum has made her even more anxious, there is a heartwarming trade-off in that hugs from her 15-month-old son calm her down.
Ellie, 35, says: “My anxiety just went off the chart. It felt like it reached new heights of panic and fear.
“If you haven’t had a panic attack, it’s so hard to describe and explain but it’s just so overwhelming.
“With the current climate and what’s going on in the world, it’s making everything seem a lot more intense.
“It’s some kind of survival mechanism to you and your kid. You want to survive as much as possible for them and you also want them to survive, so you’re kind of fighting for both of you. It’s a lot.
“It’s huge, but the joy they bring and the fact they make you laugh really balances that out.
“When I get anxious, giving Arthur cuddles and hanging out with him really makes me feel a lot better.”
Ellie, who has had two chart-topping albums and three No1 singles, married art dealer Caspar Jopling at York Minster in August 2019.
Her royal pals Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice were at the ceremony.
Arthur was born in May 2021 and Ellie says becoming a mum has “made me much more of an emotional person”.
She says: “I’ve always had stuff to say, been a big thinker and been widely romantic… I feel heartbreak really hard.
“But with Arthur, physically and emotionally, it changes you. It’s almost like you’re navigating a new emotion, which you’ve never experienced before.
“Suddenly your brain has expanded in its capacity to love and care for things.
“I thought I was pretty emotional before, but now it’s a whole other level.”
Singer Ellie is currently gearing up to release her fifth album.
After being away from the music industry for more than a year, she scored a Top 40 hit with Easy Lover in July.
“It feels good,” she says. “I’ve been doing this for such a long time, you have to get to a point where you just put trust in yourself.”
Ellie reckons the music industry has changed hugely since she started out in 2009 – especially with the advent of sites such as TikTok.
Speaking on the Most Requested Live with Romeo podcast, she said: “People discovered me through being on television and on hearing me on the radio and being like, ‘Who’s this singer?’
“Now, kids discover music through TikTok. For example, I’ve got a huge hit on TikTok right now with Lights – a very old song.
“Stuff like that keeps happening. It’s no longer anywhere near as predictable as it used to be and you just don’t know anything. All these surprises keep happening.
“It does revolve quite a bit around TikTok. It feels like people are rediscovering my music, so it’s nice to have new music and people listening to the old stuff as well. People appreciate me and I’m grateful for that.”
