Singer Megan Washington reveals long-term severe speech impediment

ARIA award winning songbird Megan Washington has revealed she has a severe speech impediment and that she was bullied at school because of it.

BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA - JUNE 23: Megan Washington arrives at the APRA Awards at Brisbane City Hall on June 23, 2014 in Brisbane, Australia. (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)

ARIA award winning songbird Megan Washington has revealed she has a severe speech impediment and that she was bullied at school because of it.

The I Believe You Liar singer has told ABC’s Australian Story that she has suffered a stutter since the age of five, and singing is one of the few times she ever feels “fluent”.

“I know other people in the world who have far worst things to deal with but I have a problem. I have a stutter,” she tells the program, which will air this week.

‘It might seem curious given that I spend a lot of time on the stage but the truth is I’ve spent up until this point living in mortal dread of public speaking ... Public singing is a whole different thing.”

The 28-year-old Brisbane singer said she had gone through years of speech therapy to help her disguise her problem, but added: “S’s and t’s are my kryptonite.”

“The stage was a happy place because I wasn’t me and it still is because I am not me,” she said.

“I’ve never really talked about it before. I used to try and be all the things that I want to be whilst suppressing it or trying to disguise it.

“But now I think I’d like to be whatever I am, despite it.”

Originally published as Singer Megan Washington reveals long-term severe speech impediment