LONDON: Jessica Simpson was devastated when the media poked fun at her weight earlier this year - because she's harboured hang-ups about her figure since she was a child.

The 29 year old was pictured looking heavier than usual in January and was subsequently scrutinised for her fluctuating figure by the press for months.

Some callous reports even assumed that Simpson was pregnant with her then-boyfriend Tony Romo's baby.

The singer admits she is insecure about her weight - and that her worries started when she was just 12 years old.

She tells America's Glamour magazine, "When I was young, I would look at magazines and feel a lot of pressure. As a child of 12, I would write things in my journal like, 'I'm lying here and all I can think about is that my stomach is hanging over my underwear.' That disturbs me even today!

"I was always disconnected from myself; there was this idea of perfection I couldn't ever get to. But all women struggle with insecurity, and we all have something we don't like about ourselves."

But Simpson is hoping her new U.S. reality TV show The Price Of Beauty will help women learn to love their figures - whatever their size.

She adds, "No matter how much money you spend to make yourself beautiful - with all the products, the diets, the plastic surgery - in the end, women need to fall in love with themselves and realise they're beautifully and wonderfully made. There is no 'perfect' you.

"It will be interesting for women to see how self-obsessed we've become."