Stars Who Battled Eating Disorders

Mary-Kate Olsen

The former child star sought treatment for anorexia nervosa at Cirque Lodge in 2004. “This is a challenge that Mary-Kate has made a decision to face,” her rep said at the time. “This is a challenge she will meet.”

Charli D’Amelio

The TikTok star revealed in September 2020 that she has an eating disorder. “I’ve always tried to use my voice when it comes to issues surrounding body image, but I’ve never talked about my own struggles with eating disorders,” she wrote on her Instagram Stories. “It’s so uncomfortable to admit to even your closest friends and family, let alone the world. i’ve been afraid to share that I have an eating disorder, but ultimately i hope that by sharing this i can help someone else.”

Ireland Baldwin

In August 2020, the model celebrated six years of being free of her eating disorder. “Wanted to announce that today is the 15th of August, and today marks six years that I have been free of anorexia and bulimia and all of my other food compulsion and eating disorders that I have struggled through for many years,” she said in an Instagram video. “And today marks six years. So, you can do it.”.

Shawn Johnson

The Olympic gold medalist spoke about her past eating disorder during a June 2020 YouTube video. Johnson revealed she only consumed 700 calories while she was training for the 2008 Olympics, which led to “self-confidence and self-image issues” once she wasn’t competing. “In my mind, everybody praised me for what I did at the Olympics,” she said in the video. “They praised who I was as a human being when I was there. In my mind, if I could look like that, not necessarily compete or do gymnastics, but if I could be that person again, then the world would say that I was enough and I was accepted, which didn’t make any sense.” After gaining weight following her departure from the sport, Johnson said she turned to Adderall and dieting to try and stay thin. She eventually left gymnastics for good ahead of the 2012 Olympics and started seeing a therapist and nutritionist, calling it her “turning point.”

Laura Prepon

The Orange Is the New Black alum opened up about her struggle with bulimia in her motherhood guide, You & I, as Mothers: A Raw and Honest Guide to Motherhood in 2020. The actress revealed that her mother “taught” her bulimia after she was told to lose 25 pounds at age 15 during a model casting call. Her struggle with the disorder lasted until her late 20s and was “a bonding thing” she did with her mom, calling it a “shared secret.” Prepon eventually weighed 105 pounds and explained that weight loss became a “compulsion that would completely debilitate” her.

Taylor Swift

The “Lover” singer revealed she has struggled with eating disorders and body image over the years in her 2020 Netflix documentary, Miss Americana. “It’s not good for me to see pictures of myself every day,” she said in a voiceover. “It’s only happened a few times, and I’m not in any way proud of it, [but in the past I’ve seen] a picture of me where I feel like I looked like my tummy was too big or … someone said that I looked pregnant … and that’ll just trigger me to just starve a little bit — just stop eating.”