News | Entertainment
16 Jul 2025 13:55
NZCity News
NZCity CalculatorReturn to NZCity

  • Start Page
  • Personalise
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • Finance
  • Shopping
  • Jobs
  • Horoscopes
  • Lotto Results
  • Photo Gallery
  • Site Gallery
  • TVNow
  • Dating
  • SearchNZ
  • NZSearch
  • Crime.co.nz
  • RugbyLeague
  • Make Home
  • About NZCity
  • Contact NZCity
  • Your Privacy
  • Advertising
  • Login
  • Join for Free

  •   Home > News > Entertainment

    Billie Eilish has "made friends" with having Tourette's syndrome

    The 20-year-old singer was diagnosed with the neurological condition - which causes involuntary movements, twitches and sounds - when she was just 11 years old after experiencing "small" tics as a child and although she doesn't "like" it, she's grown to view her affliction as a "part of" her


    She said: "It's not like I like it, but I feel like it's part of me. I have made friends with it. And so now, I'm pretty confident in it. When I'm moving around, I'm not ticcing at all. When I'm riding my horse, I'm not ticcing. When I'm moving and thinking and focusing, when I'm singing [I'm not ticcing]."

    But the 'bad guy' hitmaker admitted she gets "incredibly offended" when people laugh at her tics or think she's making the movements on purpose.

    Speaking on 'My Next Guest Needs To Introduction', she told host David Letterman: "It's really weird. I haven't talked about it like at all. The most common way that people react is they laugh because they think I'm trying to be funny. They think I'm going like [imitates one of her tics] as, like, a funny move.

    "So they go like 'Ha!' and I am always left incredibly offended by that or they [turn their head behind them] and go 'What?' And then I go, 'I have Tourette's'.

    Billie was fascinated to learn other musicians also have the condition.

    She said: "What's funny is so many people have it that you would never know. A couple artists came forward and said, 'I've actually always had Tourette's,' and I'm not going to out them because they don't want to talk about it, but that was actually really interesting to me. I was like 'You do?! What?' "

    The 'Ocean Eyes' hitmaker finds her tics "very exhausting" but admitted people rarely notice them when they are in conversation with her.

    She said: "I actually really love answering questions about it because it's very, very interesting and I am incredibly confused by it and I don't get it.

    "I never don't tic at all, because the main tics that I do constantly all day long are like are like, I wiggle my ear back and forth, and raise my eyebrow, and click my jaw and do that, and like flex my arm here, and flex this arm, and flex these muscles.

    "These are things you would never notice if you're just having a conversation with me. But for me, they're very exhausting."

    © 2025 Bang Showbiz, NZCity

     Other Entertainment News
     16 Jul: King Charles will host Donald Trump at Windsor Castle in September
     16 Jul: Gina Rodriguez is pregnant
     16 Jul: Robbie Williams has revealed that his mother no longer knows who he is due to her dementia
     16 Jul: Ellen DeGeneres has thrown her support behind Rosie O'Donnell amid her latest row with Donald Trump
     16 Jul: Armie Hammer's ex-girlfriend, Paige Lorenze, is engaged to tennis star Tommy Paul
     16 Jul: Sarah Jessica Parker has confirmed she dated Nicolas Cage
     16 Jul: AJ McLean reunited with his estranged wife Rochelle DeAnna McLean at the opening night of the Backstreet Boys' residency at the Sphere in Las Vegas
     Top Stories

    RUGBY RUGBY
    All Black Sevu Reece has declared himself ready to return to the test arena More...


    BUSINESS BUSINESS
    Architect and design-work is drying up across the country More...



     Today's News

    Business:
    Architect and design-work is drying up across the country 13:47

    Entertainment:
    King Charles will host Donald Trump at Windsor Castle in September 13:40

    Law and Order:
    Almost four years after a baby's body was found in an Auckland recycling plant, Police are still begging the family to come forward 13:27

    Education:
    The country's eighth new charter school has opened in Auckland's Greenlane this week 13:27

    Entertainment:
    Gina Rodriguez is pregnant 13:10

    Rugby League:
    Former Kiwis fullback Richie Barnett is understanding of the Warriors potentially choosing not to re-sign Te Maire Martin 13:07

    National:
    How AI can help protect bees from dangerous parasites 13:07

    Law and Order:
    The family of victims of a triple fatal crash in Waiuku, in Auckland's south are asking for privacy 13:07

    Entertainment:
    Robbie Williams has revealed that his mother no longer knows who he is due to her dementia 12:40

    Health & Safety:
    Fears Kiwis are ignorant of the signs of bowel cancer 12:17


     News Search






    Power Search


    © 2025 New Zealand City Ltd