The Vamps’ lead guitarist James Brittain-McVey said pressure from MPs to conform meant he had to undergo liposuction to remove breast tissue when he was just 20 years old.
Speaking at a committee discussing the impact of body image on physical and mental health, the musician said he wished he had opened up to friends at the time.
And he said no doctor ever asked if he was sure he wanted surgery.
Worries about weight or body shape can often lead to eating disorders, which are particularly common in teenagers.
Two leading medical organizations have told BBC News that GPs are not receiving the proper support to treat eating disorders.
Doctors said they needed more time with patients and more special forces.
Brittain-McVey, 27, said he started worrying about what his body looked like around the age of 14-15.
He struggled to fit in at school — and that led him to the gym, prompted by social media promotions and “big American surf style companies.”
“I had one of her shopping bags in my bedroom from a guy who got ripped up on a Malibu beach, and I subconsciously think every morning that I think I must look like this,” the musician said.
“Social media encouraged me to keep falling down this rabbit hole.
“The first thought I had when I woke up in the morning was, ‘Am I going to eat this, will I be able to go to the gym?’
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He described worrying about what he was eating by the age of 15-16 – and when The Vamps started he decided to have excess natural breast tissue in his chest, a condition called gynecomastia, removed.
“People assume I was striving for vanity – but it was the pressure to conform to stereotypes and gender constructs,” said Brittain-McVey.
“And before I knew it, my whole life was driven by this hunt to look a certain way.”
His family supported his decision, but he was too embarrassed to tell many of his friends or bandmates.
The government should “stop advertising,” he said, so that “bodies represent society, not unattainable bodies.”
“I worry about future generations,” said Brittain-McVey.
“How on earth are they supposed to be comfortable in their own skin now that you go and scroll down apps and you see another person looking a certain way?”
Cosmetic surgery ads will no longer be allowed to target children in the UK from May.
When asked if any doctors had spoken to him about why he wanted liposuction, Brittain-McVey said, “I don’t think before the surgery, nobody said, ‘Are you sure?'”
In 2018 he joined ITV’s I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! and came from the Australian jungle after losing 4-5 kg.
“My wife was shocked at how ill I looked — but I was glad I had a six-pack again,” he said.
The program was “brilliant” – but it made him focus on his looks “more than ever”.
“I still feel the pressure to look a certain way and that’s why I worry about a lot of our fanbase,” he told MPs.
The committee is examining whether NHS training on body image issues should be changed and whether there is enough support, advice and regulation to ensure patient safety.
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