Billie Eilish got very candid about what it’s like dealing with Tourette syndrome tics during a conversation with Amy Poehler for the Good Hang with Amy Poehler podcast.
Around an hour and 17 minutes in the podcast that was uploaded on May 5, the singer, who’s been open about her experience with the syndrome since she was diagnosed at 11 years old, explained what it was like dealing with it in an interview.
“I have vocal ticks, but luckily for me — and for everyone else — they’re mostly just quiet noises, and I can keep them pretty quiet,” she said. “I go through phases of words becoming tics, but you know, there’s a thing called suppressing, if you ever heard of it. And you know when I’m in an interview, I’m doing everything in my power to suppress all of my tics, constantly.”
“As soon as I leave the room, I have to let them all out,” she added.
A few moments later, Eilish opened up about what it’s like experiencing them in public. “If I start having like, a tick attack, like a lot of tics in a row, people are like, ‘Are you okay?’” Eilish began.
“This is very much normal, like, you know, and also, like, ‘Well, I didn’t notice.’ It’s like if you didn’t see me tick today, you’re not looking at my knees which are ticking constantly under the table — and my elbows. I’m clenching my arms the entire time,” she continued. “I’m doing this for the entire time and it’s because I’m currently on camera and I’m having a conversation and I’m trying not to be distracting.”
Back in 2022, Eilish told David Letterman about her tics on the My Next Guest Needs No Introduction show. If you film me for long enough, you’re gonna see lots of tics,” she said, before admitting she was “incredibly offended” by the common reaction to her experiencing a tic. “The most common way that people react is they laugh because they think I’m trying to be funny…and I’m always left incredibly offended by that.”
Eilish also told Letterman that other musicians have confessed to her that they suffer from the same syndrome, but she was “not gonna out them because they don’t wanna talk about it.”
Tourette syndrome is defined by Mayo Clinic as “a disorder that involves repetitive movements or unwanted sounds (tics) that can’t be easily controlled.”
