Sia reveals she’s ‘on the spectrum’ in candid interview

Sia is opening up about being “on the spectrum” and learning to embrace all parts of herself.

The 47-year-old pop star spoke candidly about not “living in shame” and her journey to recovery during a surprise appearance on “Rob Has a Podcast.”

Sia stopped by the podcast, which breaks down popular reality television shows, on May 25 after the“Survivor” Season 44 finale aired. The “Chandelier” singer is a longtime superfan of the CBS competition show and joined “Rob Has a Podcast” to congratulate contestant Carolyn Wiger, the season's second runner-up.

When host and former “Survivor” contestant Rob Cesternino welcomed Sia to the podcast, Wiger immediately started to tear up.  Wiger became an instant fan-favorite on “Survivor” for her quirky personality and vulnerability. She shared her story about being sober throughout the season, and during the final episode, Wiger’s fellow castaways applauded her authenticity.

“I hope that you know how good you are,” Sia told Wiger. “How much you changed a lot of people’s way of relating in the world.”

The “Elastic Heart” singer then revealed that she personally connected to Wiger’s message about celebrating everyone’s differences.

“I’m on the spectrum, and I’m in recovery and whatever — there’s a lot of things,” Sia continued. “I think one of the greatest things is that nobody can ever know you and love you when you’re filled with secrets and living in shame.”

She added: “When we finally sit in a room full of strangers and tell them our deepest, darkest, most shameful secrets, and everybody laughs along with us, and we don’t feel like pieces of trash for the first time in our lives, and we feel seen for the first time in our lives for who we actually are, and then we can start going out into the world and just operating as humans.”

She did not share more information about being diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, however, she implied that she recently learned about being on the spectrum.

“I’ve felt like for 45 years I was like … ‘I’ve got to go put my human suit on,’” she explained to Wiger and Cesternino. “And only in the last two years have I become fully, fully myself.”

Sia further praised Wiger for inspiring “Survivor” viewers to not be ashamed of who they are.

“You just showed up ... willing to be rejected and willing to be the weird one. The kook in me recognizes the kook in you,” the “Cheap Thrills” singer said.

During the past few seasons of “Survivor,” Sia has gifted some standout contestants with cash prizes. She awarded Wiger $100,000.

“I wanted to offer you $100,000 for you and your son because I know that you’ve been struggling. And I love you,” Sia said as Wiger began to cry.

Sia’s announcement about being on the spectrum comes two years after she apologized for her depiction of autism in her film “Music,” which she co-wrote.

“Music,” a 2021 musical drama, told the story of a drug dealer (Kate Hudson) who becomes the guardian of her half-sister (Maddie Ziegler). Ziegler portrayed a nonverbal, autistic teenager. The controversial movie marked Sia’s feature film directorial debut, and she produced the flick, too.

Although “Music” landed two Golden Globe nominations, social media users called Sia out for her depiction of a nonverbal person with autism and her choice to cast a neurotypical actor for the role, as well as scenes involving the use of physical restraints.

“I promise, have been listening,” Sia tweeted at the time of the controversy before she deleted her Twitter account. “The motion picture MUSIC will, moving forward, have this warning at the head of the movie.”

The warning said, “MUSIC in no way condones or recommends the use of restraint on autistic people. There are autistic occupational therapists that specialize in sensory processing who can be consulted to explain safe ways to provide proprioceptive, deep-pressure feedback to help w meltdown safety.”

At the end of her tweet, Sia wrote, “I’m sorry.” She also said that all the restraint scenes would be removed from future screenings.

“I listened to the wrong people and that is my responsibility, my research was clearly not thorough enough, not wide enough,” she concluded.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com