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Ellie Goulding has revealed she suffered terrible panic attacks which left her unable to leave the house as she struggled with her sudden rise to fame.
The pregnant singer, 39, who is expecting her and boyfriend Beau Minniear's first child, saw immediate success when her 2010 debut album landed at No.1 on the UK Album Charts.
But Ellie has now admitted the whiplash of going from being an unknown writer to a double BRIT Award winner was overwhelming.
In a new interview, Ellie has revealed she struggled to cope with the fame and started having panic attacks.
Her anxiety became so extreme she said she 'couldn't leave the house' and would cover her face when she did go out.
'I went from never taking a flight, never being photographed, to singing at the royal wedding,' she told the latest issue of NYLON.
Ellie Goulding has said she was having panic attacks and 'couldn't leave the house' as she struggled with her sudden rise to fame
The pregnant singer, 39, who is expecting her and boyfriend Beau Minniear's first child, saw immediate success when her 2010 debut album landed at No.1 on the UK Album Charts (Seen in 2010)
'I don't think my body knew how to process the contrast between my old life and my new life, and I don't think I was equipped to deal with that amount of scrutiny, attention and workload - I never stopped.'
She added: 'I went from that to being on TV, getting the Brit Award, getting the BBC Sound Of award. I was thrust into this mad life, and that happened in a few months. It was the wildest time of my life.
'It was impossible. I went straight from that to going on tour with Little Boots, then Katy Perry, then Bruno Mars.
'My body wasn't catching up with my head, or maybe the other way around. I started getting panic attacks, to the point where I couldn’t leave the house.
'I'd get in the car and the landscapes were triggering me, so I'd have to cover my face.'
She will also welcome a second child - her first with boyfriend Beau - in May.
There's also the small matter of her sixth studio album, currently untitled and without an official release date - but fully mastered and underpinned with a very prominent theme.
In a new interview, Ellie has revealed she struggled to cope with the fame and started having panic attacks
Ellie has now admitted the whiplash of going from being an unknown writer to a double BRIT Award winner was overwhelming (Seen at the BRITs in 2010)
Since her relationship with Beau went public in September 2025, the pair have holidayed together in Italy, where Beau shared online an intimate photograph of Ellie lying in an unmade hotel room bed.
He also appears in several raunchy scenes in Ellie's latest music video, Destiny.
Earlier this month, Ellie revealed that she's dated women in between her 'toxic, fleeting and passionate' relationships with men in a candid confession about her love life.
She made the comments during an appearance on Sports Illustrated model Brooks Nader's reality show Love Thy Nader.
The pals, who shared a playful kiss back in 2024, were discussing relationships in scenes filmed last summer, when Brooks, 28, newly-single following her split from Dancing with the Stars pro Gleb Savchenko, joked about potentially dating women.
'Maybe I'll go the other way,' the model said, to which Ellie responded: 'That's what I do. It works every time.'
Ellie with current boyfriend Beau Minniear in January. The couple will welcome their first child together, her second, later this year
Ellie, who already shares son Alfred, four, with ex-husband Caspar, then went on to share her frank views on romance.
'I think the most exciting love comes for a reason, and it's toxic and fleeting and passionate and it's amazing and you're just like, "no one else has ever experienced love like this".
'It's all great song material, to be honest. Annoyingly, I do it for the plot so that I can write a song about it.'
Ellie, whose sixth studio album is due to be released in the next few months, added: 'We should just appreciate it as the moment that it is, and then when it goes away, be appreciative that it's happened and that we got to experience it.
'It's all about being the amazing woman that you are and then guys are just an accessory every now and again.'
The comments were filmed shortly before she was linked to actor Beau last July, but aired recently on the show.
The full interview is available to read in the latest issue of NYLON, out now.
English (US) ·