She's a survivor!
Michelle Williams is known for being a member of the of one of the fiercest and best-selling female groups of all time, but earlier today the Destiny's Child singer revealed she was suicidal at the height of her fame.
The 37-year-old was guest co-hosting The Talk on Wednesday and during the episode she got very candid with hosts Julie Chen, Sara Gilbert, Sheryl Underwood and Sharon Osbourne that she was battling serious depression while at the top of the charts with Beyoncé and Kelly Rowland.
She said on the show that at the time she didn't understand why she felt the way she did given, thinking, "I’m in one of the top-selling female groups of all time, suffering with depression."
The entertainer recalled that she tried to reach out for help to the group's manager, Mathew Knowles, about how she was feeling, but he did not understand.
"When I disclosed it to our manager at the time, bless his heart, he was like, 'You all just signed a multi-million dollar deal. You’re about to go on tour. What do you have to be depressed about?'"
"So I was like, 'Oh, maybe I’m just tired,'" she said. But she admitted that she only got worse from there and that got "to the point where I was suicidal I was at the place where it got so dark and heavy...and wanted out" from the group.
"I think at the age of 25, had I had a name to what I was feeling at the time, I would have disclosed that ‘I've been suffering from depression," she said.
She says she's speaking out because she's inspired by Demi Lovato's courage in talking about her battle with an eating disorder, depression and addiction, and that she wants more women to open up about their private struggles with mental health to help ease the pain.
Williams said, "I just want to normalize the discussion."
After her appearance, she took to Twitter to thank the show. "Thank you @TheTalkCBS for being a safe place to talk about #depression #mentalhealthawareness!! Don’t be afraid to reach out for help!"
The Talk airs on CBS weekdays at 2 p.m. ET.