Ellie Goulding’s anxiety was sparked by an "inappropriate" photographer.
The 33-year-old singer struggled to even leave the house after a traumatic experience early in her career, when a man taking pictures of her made her feel very uncomfortable and "upset", because she feared having to deal with further similar incidents.
She said: "A photographer started to say inappropriate things and was focused on my body and face and I thought it didn’t seem right to me.
"I was upset with the way he was acting towards me. I was too scared to say anything but on the way home to Hereford I knew it was wrong.
"I didn’t know if I could do another photoshoot and deal with men saying s*** to me like that.
"That was when my anxiety began. I had anxiety attacks where I couldn’t leave the house and I didn’t feel I fitted in anywhere. I guess it goes back to school where you just want to be part of that cool gang and you are not."
Ellie – who married Caspar Jopling last year – is proud of how she’s overcome her anxiety over the last few years.
She told The Sun newspaper: "Getting to where I am now is something I’ve thought about a lot in the past two years. I’ve gained confidence through all my experiences and I’ve come out of it with a new respect for myself and strength in my independence and the fact I’ve gone through a lot."
The ‘Starry Eyed’ hitmaker is "so grateful" for the #MeToo movement because it’s called out a lot of unacceptable behaviour which she experienced early in her career.
She said: "I’ve thought about it a lot. Because I feel like when I first asked if I was affected, I said no because I was too scared even then to admit that I definitely had been.
"There are definitely things at the beginning of my career that would absolutely be no way acceptable right now. I think the #MeToo movement has been a huge part of that and I am so grateful for it.
"The movement drew a lot of attention to the fact that there were a lot of things happening in the acting industry and also in the music industry."