Sam Smith reveals they couldn’t walk for a month after ski accident

Sam Smith could not properly walk for a month after a ski excursion gone horribly wrong.

Sam Smith.

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The English singer-songwriter, who goes by they/them pronouns, revealed they tore up their anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) after taking on a black slope — the color indicating a higher difficulty level — during a recent appearance on BBC’s Sidetracked with Annie and Nick podcast.

“I completely ripped my ACL,” Smith said. “I was an idiot and went on a black slope on the second day. I got taken down in a blood bag. It was the worst.” Recalling the specifics, Smith added, “I don’t know how to explain it. It’s in between your bones and helps you jump and spring around.”

“It completely ripped and I decided to go down the non-surgical route, but I couldn’t walk for a month on this leg and it was awful,” Smith said. “It was the first time I’d ever not been able to move and I was holding onto a bit of weight. I was very anxious. I’d been struggling with anxiety for years. I used it as an excuse to get my shit together.”

Of the days that followed, Smith said, “I started icing every morning, started getting into my circadian rhythm, and a big part of that is light exposure to your eyes. So in the morning you’d try to get as much sunlight as you can and then in the evening, you’d stay off your phone and try to basically live by candlelight for the last hour before you sleep.”

“Most of the nights I fail,” the singer quipped. “I’m on my phone texting.”

Smith was previously photographed in January walking around New York with a cane and a knee brace on their right leg.

The pop star recently celebrated the 10th anniversary of their song “Stay With Me,” from their debut album In the Lonely Hour, by re-recording the hit with more inclusive language. (Smith came out as nonbinary in 2019.) In the original track, Smith sang, “Guess it’s true I’m not good at a one-night stand / But I still need love ’cause I’m just a man.” The lyrics have been changed to “But I still need love, baby understand.”

In a statement shared with fans upon its re-release, Smith called it “beautiful to know that sometimes, we can change the past.”