Jamelia claimed on Tuesday's Loose Women that high street shops should stop stocking plus-size clothing because she feels it facilitates obesity and an unhealthy lifestyle.
The singer also insisted that overweight people should "feel uncomfortable" when they go into stores to buy clothes.
Jamelia, who joined the ITV show as a panelist in November, made her comments as part of a discussion about overweight teenagers.
She said:
I don't believe stores should stock clothes below or above a certain weight. They should be made to feel uncomfortable when they go in and can't find a size.
And added:
I am all for celebrating people as they are. I think everyone has the right to feel comfortable in their own skin. I think everyone should have access to lovely clothes. But I do not think it's right to facilitate people living an unhealthy lifestyle, I really don't.
In the same way I don't believe a size zero should be available it's not a healthy size for an average woman to be. In high street stores you're catering for the average woman and they're providing a healthy range. And I don't believe they should be providing clothes for below that range or above that range. I'm not saying that nowhere should, I believe that yes, have specialist shops but I do feel that you should feel uncomfortable if you are unhealthy.
Viewers immediately slammed the comments online, especially because just a day earlier Jamelia had shown her support for Good Morning Britain’s self-esteem campaign.
“@GMB: Join in our #SelfieEsteem campaign and celebrate yourself - just like @Jamelia! http://t.co/sA2u5KqRi4 ” ☺️
So basically Jamelia is a bit of an ignorant idiot, oui? “You should feel uncomfortable if you’re unhealthy.” #SelfieEsteem project much?!
Im so glad @jamelia is part of #SelfieEsteem I mean she obviously thinks people should be happy with their appearance
Ah Jamelia, the advocate for self esteem telling people that if you're over a certain size you shouldn't shop on the high street. Idiot.
Many people labelled her opinions as ignorant.
So, I see Jamelia is an ignorant idiot because apparently she wants to ban plus size clothes being sold in the high street.
Well done @Jamelia 👏 you idiot.
@Jamelia in the news today is a girl who died from slimming pills, then u get idiots like you saying stupid things like that on #loosewomen
@loosewomen Can you not get anybody to replace Jamelia? Somebody who doesn't insult through ignorance maybe? #idiot
If intellectual giant Jamelia's ban on outsized clothes was implemented wouldn't we have naked fat people on every street? Loose Women eh?
But she has since responded to the reactions, insisting that people are misconstruing what she was trying to say.
On Tuesday afternoon Jamelia shared this quote on Twitter.
"Never waste your time trying to explain, to people committed to misunderstanding you"
She also opened up about the furore on Good Morning Britain on Wednesday morning, apologising for offending people but standing by her words.
She said:
Watching it back I can see how, number one, papers are able to regurgitate the story which makes it much more sensational. I didn't make it clear on the show that I was talking about extremes... above a size 20 and below a size 6.
Knowing I offended people really upset me and knowing I made people question themselves and their choices. All I can do is apologise for that... But I do stand by what I said – I am a real women with real opinions. I'm not here to play some villain. I get paid to voice my opinion. Occasionally you offend people.
But after reading the papers and the continued outrage online, Jamelia left a statement on her Facebook page. In it, she insisted that people are "jumping on the bandwagon" and explained further what point she was actually trying to make.
The statement in full reads:
It feels necessary for me to clear a few things up...between Papers, Twitter and Instagram a bandwagon has been set in motion, and many people are blindly jumping on without any real thought or rationale.
First of all...contrary to today's headlines, At NO POINT during yesterday's episode of Loose Women did I say that I did not want plus size clothing available on the high street...at NO POINT did I say I wanted overweight people to feel uncomfortable about shopping for clothes...at NO POINT did I suggest anyone needs to slim down or change their appearance to fit what is available on the high street. All of the above has been reported as if it came out of my mouth...which it did not.
What I did say, which was in reference to extremes, I stand by. It is also important you understand that I know there are exceptions to every rule, and of course I don't believe anyone should be walking around naked 🙈 But I do believe we need to be healthier as a society, I believe we work together to make this happen. My opinion is in regard to the health and wellbeing of our teens as a whole. The NHS is in crisis, and I believe we should do all we can to regain control of the situation.
As a mother of two daughters, I want to contribute to a healthy and prosperous society. I am not some pantomime villain. I am a parent and I am a woman, and I want the best for us all. I also believe no matter what your size, you should be celebrated and above all be comfortable celebrating yourself...if you watched the show, you would know that x