Gwen Stefani: then and now! The 44-year-old No Doubt singer shared an old photo of herself on Twitter Sunday, Feb. 2, that has attracted a lot of attention . . . for the caption.
"Chunky me 1983. getting @officialsting autograph backstage. cut to . . ." Stefani wrote. In the vintage photo, a teenage Stefani is seen getting an autograph from Sting, who was straddling a motorcycle. For her meeting with the then-frontman of The Police, the soon-to-be rocker herself has an edgy, mohawk-inspired hairstyle and is wearing a yellow sweater, khaki shorts and white flats.
The flashback photo received some criticism on Twitter over Stefani calling herself "chunky." "@gwenstefani please don't call yourself chunky," one commenter wrote. "Too many girls and women look up to you for you to talk like that."
Yahoo! Shine also posted an article titled "Gwen Stefani's Comments About Her 'Chunky' Body Makes Us Sad."
But not everyone was upset over Stefani's remark. "If Gwen Stefani wants to call her 1983 self chunky she has every right to," one Twitter user wrote. "Don't base your self worth on others."
MTV News uncovered an old interview with Stefani from 1996 where she said she was "chubby" growing up. "I was like a chubby girl, a chubby kid my whole life," Stefani said. "So that's something that I've always had to work on." The "Hollaback Girl" singer, who currently expecting her third child, also revealed at the time that her mom put her on a diet at a young age. "I had a really a big Italian grandma, like this big . . . like a house," she said. "She was really cute and I used to cuddle in her chubby arms."
