In a recent candid sit-down with David Letterman, Billie Eilish shared some intimate details about her health.
The powerhouse singer, 20, has dominated the music charts since she was just fourteen. She captured people’s attention with her song Ocean Eyes before hitting it big-time with her smash Bad Guy, which helped propel her to the number one spot on the Billboard charts in 2019.
With a massive fan following, Billie has appeared to have it all and sports a positive attitude to go with her fame.
However, the singer kept her health issues quiet until recently, when she opened up about her Tourette’s syndrome.
Billie said she is tired of people making fun of her Tourette’s tics
Billie took some time out of her busy schedule to have an interview with the former Late Show host, and she talked about how hard it is living with Tourette’s and dealing with the public’s constant ribbing about her uncontrollable tics.
The singer/songwriter could be seen sipping a drink as she propped herself in her chair opposite David, and almost immediately, she jerked her head to the side and opened her mouth wide for a split second.
David asked Billie what brought on that sudden spastic move, to which Billie replied, “the lights…if you film me for long enough, you’re gonna see lots of tics,” as reported by TMZ.
TMZ also shared that the singer gets exhausted from her constant tics and gets aggravated when people around her make light of them.
“It’s really weird; I haven’t talked about it at all,” Billie admitted to David. “The most common way that people react is they laugh because they think I’m trying to be funny…and so they go, ‘Ha,’ and I’m always left incredibly offended by that.”
What is Tourette’s syndrome?
Having been diagnosed at the age of 11, Billie is likely very well-versed in all of the details regarding her syndrome, but those who do not suffer from it may have more questions.
According to the Mayo Clinic, Tourette’s syndrome is a neurological disorder affecting the brain and nerves, causing the body to have uncontrollable body movements or repetitive sounds like tongue clicking.
People who suffer from Tourette’s will frequently shout out vulgar or foul words, crack their jaws, blink their eyes a lot, and snap their heads back or to the side, to name a few.
Males are about four times as likely to develop Tourette’s as females, and there is no cure for the syndrome. However, treatments are available to those in need, but only if the symptoms are bad enough. Most tics diminish in frequency in the teenage years and become more controllable.