Sam Smith has reflected on the "nightmare" experience of getting liposuction as a teenager.

During an interview for the Podcrushed podcast on Wednesday, the Stay with Me singer - who is non-binary and uses they/them pronouns - opened up to co-host Penn Badgley about their decision to undergo a cosmetic procedure to remove unwanted body fat at the age of 13.

"I had surgery on my chest when I was 13 years old, because I had a growing chest," they began. "There were all sorts of reasons why, but mainly, I was just getting so teased, I couldn't go swimming in school, and I couldn't - like, getting changed in the locker room was hell. So, I got liposuction when I was 13 years old."

Becoming emotional, Sam recounted how they struggled with body image and eating for some time and their parents were "hugely supportive" of the decision to try surgery.

And while the procedure "worked", the Too Good at Goodbyes hitmaker confessed that they wore the bandage to school for longer than necessary.

"(It was) just all a struggle with food and stuff. And the liposuction, it worked, but it was also a nightmare because they gave me a bandage," the 33-year-old continued. "If I wore the bandage, it meant that I would get to the front of the lunch queue. So, I just kept this bandage on for nearly a year, and I'd be like, 'Oh, don't come close to me,' and then I'd just get first at lunch... so the surgery never really worked because I love food."

Most recently, Sam has been performing a residency at the Warsaw in Brooklyn, New York.

The next To Be Free concert is scheduled for 19 November.