Marie Osmond reveals her experiences with the body-shaming culture

Marie Osmond candidly revealed her experiences as a teenager and the mental impact body-shaming left on her. 

During an interview with Fox News, the singer and actress revealed her experiences during her battles with weight and other hurtful words spat at her over the years.

She stated, “From the time I started Donny & Marie, age 15, I did starvation. I would literally starve myself for three days before taping, drinking lemon water and cayenne pepper with maple syrup so I can be skinny.”

She revealed to the outlet, “One day, I was taken out into a parking lot and one of the studio people told me that if I didn’t drop 10 pounds, they were going to cancel the show. They said I was an embarrassment to my family and I needed to keep the food out of my fat face.”

“I was 103 pounds — I’d kill to be 103 pounds. So I got down to 93 pounds,” she stated.

Recalling the past hurt and trauma the star revealed, “I never realized the mental abuse behind that. I went through other kinds, too. But those leave scars and traumas. I swear to you, every diet on the planet I tried.”

The singer explained why she faces difficulty managing her weight, “I was taking care of my mother and I had put the weight on,” she revealed. “You eat when you’re tired. You eat inconsistently. And then you try to diet. But you’re also trying to raise a family.”

“I was the provider for my family, so I had to work,” she stated. “Eating was my way of coping with life. And you justify it, like ‘My bones are getting bigger’ or ‘I’m just going to be my mother.'”

Going into details regarding her family's medical history she stated, “Women in my family don’t live much past 60,” she said. “They put weight around their stomach. They also suffer from strokes and heart attacks. That’s what took my mother’s life. And I’m the only daughter.”

“I have eight brothers. The last thing she said to me was ‘Do not do to your body what I did to mine,'” she recalled. “Shortly after that, I was going through a divorce and I have eight children.”

Osmond revealed that it was one of her sons who provided her with a rude awakening towards the path of self destruction she was on. “I remember my son took me aside on behalf of the kids and told me, ‘Mom, you’re all we have. We can’t lose you. I don’t want to hurt your feelings, but you’ve got to lose weight,'" she said. “That was the killer punch in the gut.”

Finally the star revealed that she was able to lose the weight in a healthy way, “I was doing Dancing with the Stars and I thought 50 extra pounds in spandex is not a beautiful combination. I was ready. It took me about four months to lose 50 pounds."

“People assume I lost it on Dancing with the Stars but that’s not true, I started my journey before I did that show. And while I was doing Dancing with the Stars, Nutrisystem found me. … And it was fantastic.”

Despite having personal problems weighing her down, the star stated, “I was going through a divorce, a custody battle, I was dancing. But it helped me get back to my healthier, happier self. I just can’t do steamed chicken and vegetables. It doesn’t work for me. … But I wanted to take care of me. And that’s what I did.”