{"id":942323,"date":"2026-05-06T20:54:20","date_gmt":"2026-05-06T20:54:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/942323\/"},"modified":"2026-05-06T20:54:20","modified_gmt":"2026-05-06T20:54:20","slug":"billie-eilish-says-she-does-everything-i-can-to-suppress-tourette-syndrome-tics-billie-eilish","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/942323\/","title":{"rendered":"Billie Eilish says she does \u2018everything I can\u2019 to suppress Tourette syndrome tics | Billie Eilish"},"content":{"rendered":"

Billie Eilish has said she is \u201cdoing everything I can\u201d to suppress her Tourette syndrome<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The singer-songwriter, who was 11 when she was diagnosed with TS, told of how frustrating it can be when others do not understand the condition.<\/p>\n

TS causes involuntary sudden, repetitive sounds or movements known as tics, which can be triggered by different things including stress, excitement or tiredness, according to the NHS website.<\/p>\n

Speaking to Amy Poehler on her Good Hang podcast, the 24-year-old singer spoke about living with the condition and said: \u201cI do have Tourette\u2019s and I have vocal tics but, luckily for me and for everyone else, they\u2019re mostly just noises and I can keep them pretty quiet.<\/p>\n

\u201cI go through phases of words becoming tics, but there\u2019s a thing called suppressing, if you ever heard of it.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I\u2019m in an interview, I\u2019m doing everything in my power to suppress all of my tics constantly. And as soon as I leave the room, I have to let them all out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Poehler, known for starring in the hit TV series Parks and Recreation, went on to speak to the singer about intrusive thoughts, which the NHS defines as unwanted and often shocking thoughts and images.<\/p>\n

Eilish said: \u201cImagine those intrusive thoughts, but your mouth has to say them out loud, right? That is Tourette syndrome.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think what\u2019s troubling about the way that people do not understand what Tourette\u2019s is, if I start having a tic attack, like a lot of tics in a row, people are like, \u2018Are you OK?\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is very much normal. It\u2019s like, if you didn\u2019t see me tic today, you\u2019re not looking at my knees, which are tic-ing constantly under this table, and my elbows that are like \u2026 I\u2019m clenching my arms the entire time.\u201d<\/p>\n

The chart-topping singer added: \u201cIt\u2019s because I\u2019m currently on camera and I\u2019m having a conversation, and I\u2019m trying not to be distracting.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really doing this the whole time \u2013 as much fun as I\u2019m having \u2013 I\u2019m doing everything I can to suppress every single tic that\u2019s visible, from the top of my head to [my waist].\u201d<\/p>\n

The singer, known for hits including Birds of a Feather and Bad Guy, added: \u201cThat\u2019s how we, as people with Tourette\u2019s, pretty much spend our days. Some people don\u2019t even have the privilege of getting to suppress them at all in any way. The not understanding of that is really frustrating, as a person with Tourette\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eilish rose to fame aged 14 after the release of her hit song Ocean Eyes, and has since had two UK No 1 singles and three chart-topping albums.<\/p>\n

The singer has also won a string of accolades, including 10 Grammy awards, two Oscars and three Brit Awards.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Billie Eilish has said she is \u201cdoing everything I can\u201d to suppress her Tourette syndrome. The singer-songwriter, who…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":942324,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3940],"tags":[4080,77,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-942323","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-celebrities","8":"tag-celebrities","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116529624975970624","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/942323","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=942323"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/942323\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/942324"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=942323"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=942323"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=942323"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}