This is Meghan Trainor 2.0 — and we’re not just talking about her visual transformation, though there’s that too.
This Trainor, 32, is raising three kids under 5 and about to release her seventh album, Toy With Me (out April 24), which is bursting with her signature brand of empowerment anthems. These days, she’s trying to practice what she preaches.
“I wrote ‘All About That Bass’ so I could feel better in my own skin,” she tells Us Weekly about her 2014 breakout hit, a doo-wop-y ode to curvy girls. For the then-20-year-old, self-acceptance was just a wish. Now, she says, “I feel confident and strong. I haven’t felt that way in a long time.”
Not everybody loves that for her. “I didn’t expect that when I got healthier, people would hate me for it,” she says about critics of her recent weight loss. It used to get to her, but now she’s trying to stay unbothered. Being incredibly busy helps.
Trainor and her husband of seven years, Daryl Sabara, welcomed daughter Mikey via surrogate in January. She joined brothers Riley, 5, and Barry, almost 3. The entire family will head out on tour together in June.
Us Weekly got an early listen of the album and spoke with Trainor over two days about making music, making progress, making mom friends and making sure to protect her peace.
Congratulations on the album! You’ve said it’s the most honest and fearless work you’ve done. Where did that come from?
It was really hard at first. I’ve been working so hard on my health and wellness and taking care of myself, and what comes with that is looking different. I was finally feeling better in my body and really loving wearing clothes. I went to the Billboard Women in Music Awards [in 2025] and got the most hate ever just on my appearance. Like, nothing to do with my music or work or who I am as a person. It was like, “Ew, look at her…” I didn’t expect that, which is silly. It was kind of a slap in the face. I was like, “Ten years later and we’re still talking about my body?”… I was writing the album while that happened, and that’s when we wrote “Still Don’t Care.”
What people say about you is none of your business.
It seems like social media took a hard turn recently. [Whoever] can write the meanest thing [wins]… What I stopped doing, which saved my life, probably, is I stopped reading any comment section ever. I will not go in there. My husband told me the other day, “I don’t know what witchcraft this is, but ever since you stopped looking, they’ve been nicer…” I’m much happier, and my nerves are calmer.
You can feel that vibe on the album.
A lot of these [tracks], like “Get In Girl,” are… like, “I got you, girl. We can do this. We can move on… Let’s get into [final track] ‘Shimmer’ and love ourselves strong…” [But also] I knew I was having a baby girl come into the world. It’s so scary right now, and I don’t feel good about being here as a girl — how am I going to bring a girl here? I wrote these songs for my baby girl, for when she’s in middle school, or when she goes through her first breakup, and yeah, when she needs to shimmer and feel confident.
Songwriting must be cathartic.
It’s also scary. I’m in heavy therapy. I was in marriage counseling while doing this album, which is why I wrote “Potential.” That was right after a marriage therapy session. [Sample lyric: “One step forward, two steps back, askin’ me why I’m cryin’ like that. And you say, ‘Maybe you’re just overreacting.’”] We’re so good now that I recommend it to everyone. But having young kids, your marriage gets pushed to the side. Then you’re like, “Why are we fighting? We’re on the same team.”
I’m thinking about the “All About That Bass” days — it’s always seemed like you have confidence.
I never did. I never had confidence. That’s what was confusing for so many years. I wrote those songs to gaslight me, to gas me up, to get me going in the mornings, because I’m Miss Insecure. I wrote “All About That Bass” [because] I wished I’d heard it on the radio. I wished someone would sing this so I could feel better in my own skin. So when I came out to the world being loud and sassy and proud, everyone’s like, “How do you feel like this?” I was like, “I don’t — that’s why I wrote a song. I needed to listen to this. I needed this for me.” And when I saw what that did to so many strangers all over the world, I was like, OK, I’m not alone, which feels great. And then, I have to keep doing this for the rest of my life; this is my purpose on this earth. Got it. So every album has self-love anthems, and it’s genuinely something I’m going through. With “All About That Bass” 1776276685 I go, “I got some new boobs, and I can shake ’em, shake ’em.” I switch it up. But before the song starts, I go, “Listen, I’m still working every day on loving myself and not being mean to myself.” It’s a practice… My kids don’t know the words skinny or fat. They know healthy, strong, powerful.
How does Daryl help validate you?
Anytime I’m near him, especially at night or even in his sleep, he will always want to touch me or tell me how beautiful I am. Every night he passes out at, like, 9, and I get up multiple times to go because I’ve had babies. Every time I get back in bed, I wake him up a little bit, but not enough to be alive. And then he always rolls over and grabs me and is like, “You’re the only one I want forever and always. I need you now.” And I’m like, “What? You’re snoring.” So cute. It’s a nice relief to be confidently loved. I know I’m the one he’s obsessed with, and he’s the one I’m obsessed with.
You mentioned “Get In Girl,” which is about friendship. When have you needed a girlfriend in your life?
I could use one right now. There’s no time. I don’t have any. It’s so hard to make mom friends for this season of life. I have a handful, but I never get to see them. And then when I am home, like my mom friend Mallory just texted me, “Hey.” And I’m like, “Hey. My 2-year-old woke up with diarrhea all over his body, and I have strep and my other son is curled up on the couch. How are you?” I’m in the storm. Between my career and my kids, there’s not enough time to have those friendships. So that’s kind of what I dream of, some girl pulling up, being like, “Let’s go shopping. F**k all this. Let’s get out of here.” I wrote the song with a strong, badass woman too, Brittany “DeLacy” Amaradio. She’s so good.
What is it like having kids that are 5 and 2, along with a baby?
Five is the age where he’s like, “What happens when we’re really old? What does die mean?” And I’m like, no, no, no. Nightmare… I don’t want them to ever hurt or feel pain or ever worry or stress like me. I’m like, “It’s a scary world out there. I don’t want you to know anything.” I was like, let’s keep them away from school, because they’ll get bullied and they’ll have problems learning and then… [Our incredible nanny] Leslie talks me out of all that stuff. She really calms me down, lets me know they’ll be safe. If I had it my way, they’d be locked in my room.
Talk to Us about surrogacy.
We knew the safest way [to have a third] was to have a surrogate. [Trainor experienced gestational diabetes and other complications with her previous pregnancies.] I was doing IVF in the middle of my last album run, which was brutal on my body. We got a good amount of embryos; we were very lucky. When we found out we had girl embryos, I was like, “Can we do the girl? Can we pick?”… We didn’t announce it or tell anyone we were pregnant, so that was weird. I was writing the album, but also going through heartbreak during it. I was like, “Oh, God, yeah, I forgot there’s a baby coming.” You feel really powerless when the baby’s not in your body… We got so lucky with our surrogate… She was just an angel every step of the way and a badass. She’s a queen.
What’s Daryl like as a dad?
He never had a dad, so it’s bizarre how good he is. He was raised by rom-coms, so those dads were his dads in life, which is sad and sweet. He parents like the dream dad in a movie. If I’m silly, he’s three times as silly. He’s so funny. He makes them crack up. He knows exactly what to say. He knows how to get them out of a tantrum in five seconds, and they worship him, almost too much. There was a phase when Barry didn’t want to cuddle me. Every night was like, “I want dada.”
You got pulled into the viral mom-group saga after Ashley Tisdale’s essay in The Cut. What was that like?
I was a bad mom friend. I never went. They had so many events; they were awesome and always there for each other. There was a group chat, but eventually they started a group chat without me because I wasn’t there… and that was totally fine. I didn’t feel bad. The last time I saw them was like a year ago, and I brought them to dinner and paid for it because I was like, “I’m so sorry that I’m just not present…” And then that [story] popped up, and I was like, “What?!?” I saw my face everywhere, and wait a second, I’m not even there… I saw a TikTok where they were like, “Well, everyone hates Meghan Trainor right now, so I bet she’s the mean one.” And I was like, “Don’t worry, guys.” But some moms in that group don’t want to be famous and never wanted attention. It was really hard for a lot of moms, and I felt so bad. I felt bad for Ashley, that she was ever that sad. I think it was just a lot of miscommunication and confusion. I don’t really know what happened, but I wish them all the best. I texted all of them. Ashley texted me, “I’m sorry, your name got dragged in.” And I was like, “It’s all right, girl. The world’s a silly, crazy place, and they just want something to talk about.”
Do you have any advice for moms who are struggling?
Always ask for help. You have to take care of your mental health first. I’m on antidepressants. I’m in therapy every week. I was in couples therapy for a minute when we needed it… I just got diagnosed with ADHD. I’m testing my blood, poop, my everything, to make sure I’m at peak healthiness. I love asking for help. I’m like, “How can I improve in every way?” I can’t do it all. I wish I could, and I can’t.
Tell Us more about couples therapy.
We started [during surrogacy] because we realized we were living in different realities. Even in our fights, it was like, “Hey, we’re not even fighting about the same thing…” When you have little kids, every single thing is a decision. We almost got into a fight this morning because one of my kids has diarrhea, and [Daryl] wanted to feed him chocolate waffles. And I said, “Is that the best idea?” With our counselor, there were so many deep-rooted things that we were too scared to tell each other. He told us, “When you break through, it’ll be the greatest love you’ve ever felt.” I was like, “We’re so scrambled right now, I can’t picture that happening, but OK.” He was 100 percent right. Now we can look at each other and read each other’s mind and be like, “We’re safe.”
We have to talk about the song “Pink Cadillac.” I know it’s an interpretation of Bruce Springsteen’s “Pink Cadillac,” but it’s very sexy and cheeky. When do you feel sexiest?
There’s not a lot of time for sexiness when you have [kids that are] 5, 2 and a newborn. And I think anyone with a kid under 5 knows what I’m talking about in marriage. So it is rare. And I write a lot of these hot songs… I wish I felt this sexy all the time, but I know Daryl and I will have our time when the kids are older, you know? But it’s like a fantasy of mine. It’s like a dream of mine someday to feel… that hot again with my husband, and some nights I do. I don’t want to say once a month, but a couple times a month.
Talk to me about what sparked your wellness journey.
Pregnancy and my kids. I treated my body like trash. I did not take care of myself and it showed. I was always inflamed. I was always uncomfortable. I see pictures of me in the past, and I’m like, “Oh, that poor girl was so tired and so overworked and never took care of herself.” I didn’t work out at all, I didn’t eat well, and then I got pregnant… I had gestational diabetes the whole time; that was the first time I had to diet and send my results to a doctor every day. I’m one of those people that if you tell me what to do, I’ll do extra, to a fault. They were like, “Be wary of carbs,” so I ate no carbs, and then my blood sugar was worse. I thought I was doing good, but I did too much… I’m fortunate enough [to afford a dietitian], but so many people can’t… It was five years of learning health and wellness from scratch… I changed the path of where my health was going. But there’s still a fire in the kitchen, a.k.a, my nervous system.
You look great. How do you feel?
I’m finally proud of myself. I put in the hard work. I know what I did. I was training for weeks for the “Still Don’t Care” music video, because I’m dancing the whole time. I feel great. There’s my mommy pouch that will never go away. I also have loose skin, which you can’t do anything about… unless I cut it off, which I’m not interested in doing. That sounds painful. But I got new boobs.
I love how candid you are.
No one talks about it. I felt a little hurt when I looked around and was like,“Oh, fake boobs. Everyone does this when they have children. OK, cool.” There is no shame. Why wouldn’t I talk about it?… My boobs are worth every penny and pain. In my videos, I don’t have to duct tape them to my shoulders. I can wear bras now; it’s amazing… I got Motiva… the new healthier implants, and I was like, “Sick, I’ll tell everyone about it.”
It feels like Hollywood is more open about GLP-1s, which you’ve used.
After the second baby, I worked with my dietitian and my trainer and went from 190 to 155, but I was stuck there. I was like, “I’m doing all the things I’ve learned how to do, what’s going on? I’m killing myself.” All of a sudden, all my friends were on it… So I texted my doctor, and I was like, “Girl… do you know anything about Mounjaro?” She was like, “Girl, I’m on it.” I can’t do anything alone — I’m so scared — so I did it with my husband and multiple family members. I said, “I’ll pay for yours, and we’ll start together.” Now when I stand on those scales that tell you each section of your body, I’m green in every area. It was always like, “You’re obese, you have too much fat compared to muscle,” and now it’s like, “You are a healthy, strong person.”
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