Elizabeth Smart Talks Posing in a Bikini for Bodybuilding Competition: ‘I Shouldn’t Be Ashamed’

Elizabeth Smart has opened up about her decision to enter bodybuilding competitions, which require her to be up on stage in a bikini.

Smart, 38, who was the victim of kidnapping and sexual assault when she was 14, shocked the world with a Tuesday, April 21 post on Instagram where she revealed she began bodybuilding and showed a photo from a competition that she ultimately won.

Speaking on CBS This Morning on Monday, May 4, Smart explained how difficult it was for her to share her new fitness hobby with the world.

“It was terrifying, it was absolutely terrifying,” she told host Gayle King. “I grew up so modest. I don’t think I wore a bikini until I was on my honeymoon. So, stepping up on stage in a bikini felt like the most vulnerable thing I could do. I was shaking.”

After she was found nine months after her kidnapping, Smart went on to become an advocate for sexual abuse and missing children. She explained that she ultimately decided to show off her bodybuilding in an effort to remove certain stigmas victims feel after similar traumatic incidents.

“We see a lot of self-harm, eating disorders, feelings of self-loathing in their body,” she explained. “For me, doing this, I feel like it has been a celebration of my body because it has carried me through every worst day, every bad experience, I’ve had three beautiful children.”

“It still carried me through life,” she continued, “and I’m so grateful to my body for bringing me to where I am today that I want to celebrate it and I shouldn’t be ashamed of it, I shouldn’t be ashamed that I’m taking care of it and I’ve worked to build it strong and I’m very proud of myself.”

Her comments echo those she made in her initial post.

“This is actually the fourth competition I’ve done, but I was too afraid to post it before,” she revealed at the time. “Worried that I would be judged, not taken seriously, somehow perceived as less than or now unworthy to continue work as an advocate for all survivors.”

“This was a big change for me, it was hard, it pushed me, challenged me not to give up,” Smart added. “I am so proud of myself for doing this. I am so proud of my body, and I want to celebrate it.”