Kyle Richards revealed that she battled an eating disorder in the 1980s.
Richards, 50, made the revelation while in Provence, France on Tuesday night’s episode of “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” after Lisa Rinna told Richards, Dorit Kemsley, Erika Girardi and Teddi Mellencamp that her daughter Amelia Hamlin, 17, decided to move to New York to pursue her studies in nutrition, wellness and psychology. She also revealed that her family had visited “one of the best anorexia doctors” to help Hamlin with her eating disorder.
“I feel really weird even saying anything — because I’ve never ever talked about this,” Richards said to the group. “Not even to my daughters, which is why I’m staying quiet because I feel weird.”
Richards has four daughters, Farrah, 30, Alexia, 22, Sophia, 19, and Portia, 11.
“When I was younger, I had my own problems,” she added. “But I never wanted to say because I had my daughters and I never even wanted that in their head.”
“It started when I was 17,” she explained. “I was on a TV show and I didn’t like — they kept putting me in these big things. And my boobs were big when I was young and my sisters were tiny and cute.”
Her sisters are Kathy Hilton, 60, and Kim Richards, 54.
“Everybody was blonde and blue-eyed and skinny. I said, ‘I don’t like my wardrobe’ and they said, ‘Well, lose some weight and we’ll put you in cuter wardrobe,'” she continued. “People would compliment me and the more they complimented me, the less I would eat. I would take V8 juice and put it in a bowl and heat it up and that was my food. I was 99 pounds.”
The actress said that was her habit “for years” and there were times where she told herself that she would only have “six almonds” for food in a day.
“When I was growing up and my sisters were so skinny and all the models were, that’s what triggered all of that. But I was very self-conscious,” she started to cry.
“Lisa Rinna opened up about Amelia, who was very brave to share her struggles with an eating disorder,” she said in a confessional. “I can’t just pretend that I don’t know what that feels like. So, guess what? I had an eating disorder when I was younger.”
“It terrified me to ever tell my children, ‘I used to have an eating disorder,’” she said in another confessional. “I always wanted them to have a healthy body image and I never say things like, ‘Oh, I feel fat in this’ or pointing out anything about their body. I just wanted them to be healthy.”
While she came to a resolution about discussing her past with her daughters on the show, Richards isn’t in a better place with her decision to open up on her eating disorder today.
“I have to say I regret talking about this,” she tweeted. “I don’t want any young people getting ideas. Which is why I never discussed it before. I’m not proud. Just being honest.”