Christina Aguilera has been described as the ‘voice of a generation’. She says her childhood was plagued with trauma.

Even from a young age, it was clear Christina Aguilera was destined for greatness. 

The singer and actor, who has long been a pop culture icon, began singing professionally at the age of six, in local talent shows. Two years later, she gave her first television appearance on Star Search, a talent competition in which American Idol and America's Got Talent followed in its steps years after. 

When she turned 12, Aguilera landed a hosting gig on the Disney Channel show Mickey Mouse Club and when she was 17 years old; she released her first ever single, 'Genie In A Bottle'. It went straight to the top of the charts, where it stayed for five weeks. 

Mickey Mouse Club, 1993. Image: Disney.

"People forget that I've been in this business since I was six years old, you know, performing and getting gigs and doing shows. But really it's something that I wouldn't see being any other way," she told The Guardian in 2008. 

"At a really young age, I just gravitated towards performing and singing: it was what I was passionate about. Some people gravitate towards their Barbies; I gravitated towards the microphone. That was how it was.'"

Aguilera's rise to fame might have been a clear path, but over the last few decades, she's been open about her tumultuous childhood. 

Watch a snippet of Christina Aguilera's interview with Call Her Daddy. Post continues after video. 

During an interview with the Call Her Daddy podcast, the singer alleged that she had witnessed her father abusing her mother. As a result, it forced her to adopt a "protector" mindset. 

"I grew up in a chaotic upbringing as a very young child, always feeling like a protector and all that, and always felt isolated in my situation," the singer said. 

The pop star's mother left the relationship a few times but ended up returning. It was always a difficult decision, explained Aguilera. 

 "There was some back and forth. There's always the tug of like, 'I'm never gonna do it again,'" she said. "There's sweet-talking involved. There's a lot of shame also in like, 'Well, why don't you just leave?' It is so much more complicated than that."

Young Christina Aguilera. Image: Buena Vista Television.

Aguilera says that "fear" made her realise she was unsafe and in a dangerous, abusive situation. 

"You have to listen to your body," she explained.

"Fear is something that you innately feel, so, right then and there you know something doesn't feel good, and it's not right."

Her parents, Fausto Aguilera and Shelly Kearns, split up when the pop star was six years old. She then relocated with her mother and younger sister, to be closer to their grandmother. 

But the impact of her childhood has never left her. 

"And then, you know, having so much compassion for my mother," she said. "When you see someone being hurt — someone you love — that… At 42, I'm still affected by this. It's under the surface. Trauma never leaves you, you just figure out ways to try and heal it."

Now, at 42 years old with four world tours, five Grammys and 10 number-one hit singles under her belt, Aguilera is living a slower lifestyle while raising her two children: Max, 15, and Summer, who is eight years old.

Christina Aguilera's family, 2020. Image: Instagram @xtina.

She shares her eldest child with her ex-husband Jordan Bratman. The pair were married from 2005 until 2011 but split officially three years prior.

Aguilera moved on with Matthew Rutler and in 2014, she welcomed her second child. 

The singer has maintained an amicable co-parenting relationship with Bratman, and he was around to celebrate her 40th birthday with Max in January 2020.

“We make blended families work,” she captioned an Instagram post with her ex at the time. “It’s a beautiful thing.”

"I am a [mum] first," she told Billboard in 2015. "It’s part of why I stayed in the position I was [at as a coach on the singing competition, The Voice]. It’s easy to get comfortable and cushy in the same place and not have to worry about uprooting your kids. I’ve been putting myself on the back burner."

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In 2018, the long-time The Voice coach quit the show and explained she wanted to focus on music. 

"It became something that I didn’t feel was what I had signed up for in season one," she told Billboard. "You realise it’s not about music. It’s about making good TV moments and massaging a story." 

Aguilera added, "I didn’t get into this business to be a television show host and to be given all these [rules]…Especially as a female: You can’t wear this, can’t say that. I would find myself on that show desperately trying to express myself through clothing or makeup or hair. It was my only kind of outlet."

Aguilera recently launched a sexual wellness brand called Playground, which sells personal lubricants in different scents. The brand’s mission is aimed at “bliss in the bedroom and beyond.” The singer said it was essential for her new business venture to open conversations and doors for women to feel safe enough to talk about their sexuality.”

“Sex is fun, and knowing your body is so important,” she said. “You are only going to know your body when you spend time with yourself first.”

“There is no shame in the game."

Feature Image: Getty.