Christina Aguilera forced to be size 0

Christina Aguilera claims she was forced to be toothpick thin a few years ago and has opened up about the pressures in the music industry

Christina Aguilera once felt forced to be a tiny size zero.

The 'Your Body' singer - who has been criticised for her curvier figure recently - has opened up about the pressure to be thin in the music industry and claims her record company once staged an intervention to get her to lose weight.

The 31-year-old 'The Voice' judge told Billboard magazine: ''During the promotion of my album 'Stripped', I got tired of being a skinny, white girl. I am Ecuadorian but people felt so safe passing me off as a skinny, blue-eyed white girl.

''The next time my label saw me, I was heavier, darker and full of piercings. Let me tell you, that wasn't an easy pill for them to swallow. I had gained about 15 pounds during promotion and during my 'Stripped' tour.

''They called this serious emergency meeting about how there was a lot of backlash about my weight. Basically, they told me I would affect a lot of people if I gained weight -- the production, musical directors.

''[They claimed] people I toured with would also miss out if I gained weight because I would sell no records or tickets for my shows.

''I was young, so I lost the weight quickly and was toothpick thin during 'Back to Basics' promos and touring.''

The singer claims she put her foot down during recording for her new album 'Lotus' and has refused to slim down to promote it.

''I told them during this 'Lotus' recording, 'You are working with a fat girl. Know it now and get over it.' They need a reminder sometimes that I don't belong to them. It's my body.

''My body can't put anyone in jeopardy of not making money anymore - my body is just not o! n the table that way anymore.''