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Priyanka Chopra reveals she has 'always felt pressure' to be 'perfect and skinny'

Priyanka Chopra has opened up about how she has been raised with
Priyanka Chopra has opened up about how she was raised with "unrealistic beauty standards". (Getty Images)

Although widely considered one of the world's most beautiful women, Priyanka Chopra has revealed that she hasn't always felt body confident.

The actress, 39, has opened up about how she has "always felt pressure" to be "perfect" and "skinny".

Speaking to the Sunday Telegraph's Stella magazine, she said: "In the past, I always felt pressure to look a certain way. I have been raised with unrealistic beauty standards my whole life – we all have.

"Growing up, I believed everything had to be perfect, skinny or sample size, and airbrushed. It has taken me time to come to terms with my natural skin and natural hair texture."

Chopra, who was born in Jamshedpur in India and spent some of her teenage years in the US before finding fame in Bollywood, said she used to have professional make-up and her hair blow-dried before every interview.

She added: "But these days I do my own. It’s been a revelation. I’m now comfortable in my own skin."

The actress – who married singer Nick Jonas in 2018 – revealed the unusual aspects of her daily routine, including that she sleeps with the air con set to 16C so she can feel "cosy", and has an espresso machine in her bedroom so she can have a coffee before getting up.

She also admitted that she struggles to nod off at night because of the "ideas going through her head".

Chopra said: "Sometimes I wake in the middle of the night and write to-do lists on my phone. It’s hard not to let those thoughts creep in. But my soul is happy."

Earlier this year, she insisted that experiencing lockdown in the UK with her husband, at a rental property in London while she was shooting romantic drama Text For You in Buckinghamshire, had been beneficial for their relationship.

She told the Sunday Times’ Style magazine: “Quarantine gave us the ability to spend a lot of time together, which I’m really blessed by.

“Because with both of our careers it’s hard to find that kind of time.”

Watch: Celebrities reveal their mental health struggles