Kim Petras Reveals How Hit Song ‘Unholy’ Led Her to Start Therapy

Kim Petras is opening up about why she went to therapy following the release of her and Sam Smith’s song “Unholy,” and how she has adapted to life in the public eye.

“Therapy was necessary for me after having a huge song, to learn how to shut everything off,” Petras, 31, told Cosmopolitan UK in an interview published on Friday, March 15. “I had a therapist in my teen years and stopped when things got busy. But I missed having someone to let everything out to. I recommend therapy to everyone; it’s an essential tool. … The music industry can get very hectic.”

Although Petras has been recording music since she was young, her fame reached new heights after she teamed up with Smith, 31, for the song “Unholy,” which dropped in September 2022. The tune instantly became a hit, earning Best Pop Duo/Group Performance at the 2023 Grammys. Petras and Smith became the first openly trans and non-binary artists to take home the award.

The “XXX” singer shared that after the unexpected success of “Unholy,” she felt like things quickly changed in her life.

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“It was insane,” she noted to the outlet. “It took over my life. Suddenly I was traveling a lot, and there were more eyeballs on me than ever before. It felt like a huge breakthrough, as it shifted the music industry’s perception of me and what I could do.”

Along with turning to therapy, Petras found support in Smith as she experienced life in the limelight.

“Sam’s such a wonderful person, and has been my coach in a lot of ways,” she gushed. “If I feel in a crisis, or read something about myself that I can’t deal with, I’ll text or call them. That level of media attention is really scary; it forced me to grow as a person, and it’s so inspiring to see Sam be able to brush that off.”

Petras released her latest EP, Slut Pop Miami, in February, which she described as a “really explicit, fun project” to work on.

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“I said the dirtiest stuff I could come up with. It’s so freeing to think, ‘What’s the sluttiest thing we can say?’” she told Cosmo UK. “I credit a lot of my openness with growing up in Germany, where nudity is everywhere and it’s such a normal thing. I don’t want to feel any shame around sex — often females are made to feel bad, but it should be around pleasure and fun. So long as you’re into it, it’s no bad thing.”