Anitta Says She Wants to Have a Family But Doesn't Know If Her Alter Ego Will Let Her

For all the outrageous outfits and over-the-top headline-making performances (like her genre-bending 2023 MTV VMAs duet with Kpop group Tomorrow X Together, "Back for More"), Anitta opened up about her personal life, explaining that she'd love to have a family right now, but that a unique conflict is keeping her from getting there. For those unfamiliar with the mythos surrounding Anitta, the Brazilian superstar is a character that she created to express herself. Underneath the costumes and glam, she's Larissa de Macedo Machado — and she's ready to have a baby.

“Right now, I want to have family and stuff, but this character doesn't let me,” she told InStyle in a rare moment of vulnerability. She clarified, adding that the opportunity to start a family will present itself when (not if) she takes some time off.

“Larissa can have a personal life a little bit,” she said.

Back in 2022, after the release of her album Versions of Me, Anitta spoke about the seemingly outlandish idea of starting a family and moving to a farm (and the personal struggle of balancing Anitta and Larissa) during a sit-down with Interview.

"I want to have a big family, live in the middle of nowhere, be a farmer. Just planting my own food on my vegan farm with kids," she told fellow hitmaker J Balvin when he asked her what she'd do if she could retire from the music industry on her own terms. "I know I have this whole thing going on, but at the same time, as Larissa, I just walk around naked all day in my house with the animals. I like having a small cozy house with dogs. I’m simple."

She also explained the genesis of the Anitta character, saying that it offered her a way to feign confidence and speak out against certain politics that she didn't agree with — all while masking any insecurity that she'd internalized.

"I created this whole thing. Whenever I suffered any damage as a teenager, I created this character inside of me that no one could ever play with. She was tough, but I was very insecure. It’s part of me, this side that’s very confident — and I like that," she revealed. "But there’s this other side that’s the opposite, and it helps my career because then I don’t forget about where I come from. What keeps me going with this character, with this whole industry, is that I care so much about everything. I’m a very political person, and I use this character and industry to make the changes I want to see in the world."