Lizzo has spent the past year pulling back the curtain on parts of her life she once kept private. After opening up about depression, body image, and the pressure of being seen as the face of body positivity, the singer is now sharing another deeply personal detail: she says she did not lose her virginity until after she won her first Grammy in 2020.
The revelation came during a recent appearance on the Friends Keep Secrets podcast with Benny Blanco, Lil Dicky, and Kristin Batalucco. Lizzo said she had carried the secret for years, often pretending otherwise around friends because she was embarrassed.
“I was a late bloomer. I lied about it for a long time,” she said.
Then she explained why: when she was younger, she made herself a deal. “I promised myself when I was younger that I wouldn’t have sex until I won a Grammy.”
That promise eventually lined up with one of the biggest moments of her career. Lizzo won three Grammys in January 2020, including Best Pop Solo Performance for “Truth Hurts.”
Shortly afterward, she said, she finally followed through. “It was not the night of Grammys,” she clarified, laughing. “But it was after.”
The story fits into a broader picture Lizzo has been painting in recent months. In essays and interviews, she has spoken about how long she felt judged before people even got to know her.
She said she spent years feeling like she had to be “undeniably talented, undeniably beautiful, undeniably likable” just to be accepted.
That same sense of insecurity shaped her early experiences with intimacy. Lizzo said she grew up in church and once made a purity pact with other teens. She also revealed that she did not have her first kiss until she was 21—and that it was “terrible.”
“Nobody wanted to kiss me,” she said. “I was just so scared.”
