Elizabeth Smart feels ‘liberated’ after decision to enter bodybuilding contest

Elizabeth Smart feels “excited” and “liberated” after entering and winning a bodybuilding competition.

The kidnapping survivor opened up about her surprising bodybuilding journey during a visit to “CBS Mornings” on Monday.

“I feel good. I feel excited,” Smart, 38, told host Gayle King. “I feel almost liberated to a degree because I think for so long I wanted to be taken seriously, I wanted whatever I had to say to matter, I wanted to feel like I was respected.”

She continued, “And I also feel like, by doing this and putting this post out there, I feel liberated because I can be more than just one thing. I can be a bodybuilder. I can feel beautiful and sexy. And I can still be an advocate for women and children against sexual violence.”

But Smart, who described her pivot into bodybuilding as a “celebration” of her body, also acknowledged that she initially felt “vulnerable” and “terrified” standing on a stage in only a bikini.

“I grew up always just being so modest. I don’t think I wore a bikini until I was on my honeymoon,” she told King. “So stepping up on stage in a bikini felt like the most vulnerable thing I could possibly do. I was shaking.”

Smart ultimately won her division in the contest, her fourth competition total, last month.

The child safety advocate took to Instagram on April 21 to celebrate her win while explaining why she had kept her bodybuilding journey a secret for so long.

“I think it’s easy to be labeled as one thing, and honestly, that’s not me nor do I think it’s any of us, we are more than just one topic, one idea, one label,” Smart wrote alongside a photo of herself mid-competition.

“I am interested in many things, and as I get older, I realize more and more how important it is to make the most of today, we don’t know what tomorrow brings,” she continued.

The ABC News commentator then celebrated herself and her body.