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Billie Eilish Says She Actively Suppresses Tourette’s Tics During Interviews

Her account spotlights the hidden effort required to manage tics that most viewers never notice.

Overview

  • Eilish told Amy Poehler’s Good Hang podcast that she holds back her tics during interviews, then lets them out once she leaves the room.
  • She said her vocal tics are usually quiet sounds, while motor tics in her knees, elbows, and fingers can run nonstop out of sight.
  • The singer explained she suppresses to avoid being distracting on camera, calling the effort exhausting and noting not everyone with Tourette’s can do it.
  • She likened some vocalizations to intrusive thoughts spoken aloud and said people often misread clusters of tics as a crisis when they are normal for her.
  • Outlets contextualized her comments with renewed public focus on Tourette’s after a BAFTAs incident and with her 2022 Letterman interview about a diagnosis she received at age 11.