“American Idol” Katharine McPhee strips off her clothes to show off her fabulous, smoking hot bikini body on the cover of the latest issue of Shape Magazine (February 2010). The 25 year-old singer talks about her past struggle with bulimia and how difficult it really is to be married and share everything with someone. [Katharine McPhee Goes Blonde Pictures!]

Here are some highlights of Katharine McPhee’s Shape Magazine interview:

Of her seven-year struggle with bulimia:”The more I focused on my weight, the worse my bulimia got,” she says. “Now I’m more easygoing. I stopped fighting myself and became more forgiving of my body. Ironically, the weight came off naturally through exercise, but no dieting.”

On her wedding to boyfriend and manager, Nick Cokas, two years ago: She says she “envisioned what my perfect wedding would be like. I was going to be Cinderella in a carriage,” she says. “Needless to say, I set myself up for disappointment. Yes, it was beautiful, but nothing like that! I was like, ‘Oh, my God, my dress is so tight. I’m so hungry!’”

And living together also turned out to be tougher than she thought: “Everyone said it would be hard, but I didn’t believe them. Surprise, surprise. It was really difficult! I had to switch from ‘me’ mode to ‘we’ mode. But that’s not a negative thing, it’s just a challenge. That’s been my biggest lesson since Idol and getting married, that life is not what you expect. Acknowledging that helped me grow up fast.”