Eating disorders can be incredibly difficult to talk about, but the more visible we can make people who have had eating disorders, the more we can normalize how many people go through them. Bulimia is a common but incredibly isolating eating disorder, which is why a number of celebrities who have this condition have spoken candidly about their struggles.
Lady Gaga
A long-time mental health advocate, Lady Gaga first opened up about her struggles with anorexia and bulimia in 2012. At the time, her career was majorly taking off — but media outlets were fixated on her fluctuating weight.
“I used to throw up all the time in high school. So I’m not that confident,” the singer-songwriter and actress said at an event that year, per The New York Post. “I wanted to be a skinny little ballerina, but I was a voluptuous little Italian girl whose dad had meatballs on the table every night.”
Gaga chose to speak publicly about her history of eating disorders to make others feel less alone.
“To all the girls that think you’re ugly because you’re not a size 0, you’re the beautiful one,” the Chromatica singer tweeted that same year. “It’s society that’s ugly.”
Nicole Sherzinger
Pussycat Dolls alum Nicole Scherzinger struggled with bulimia and body dysmorphia for many years. Sometimes, her binges left her so sick that she’d end up “passed out in hotel rooms,” per The Mirror U.K. She sought therapy in 2009 after leaving the popular girl group.
“[Bulimia] is such a horrible paralyzing disease and it was such a dark time for me,” she told Cosmopolitan U.K. in 2014. “That’s why I can empathize so much with people who have demons and voices in their heads, who aren’t nice to themselves. It robs you of living your life.”
But there is hope, Scherzinger added: “… You can recover and you can get rid of it forever. I did it and that’s why it’s so important for me to share my story.”
Elton John
Eating disorders don’t just impact women. Take it from Sir Elton John, who dealt with bulimia for years during the apex of his career.
“I was cocaine-addicted. I was an alcoholic. I had a sexual addiction. I was bulimic for six years,” he told his biographer, Philip Norman, per The Mirror U.K. “It was all through being paranoid about my weight but not able to stop eating. So in the end I’d gorge, then make myself sick.”
“For breakfast I’d have a fry-up, followed by 20 pots of cockles and then a tub of ice cream, so I’d throw it all up,” the “Rocket Man” singer continued. “I never stood still. I was always rushing, always thinking about the next thing.”
After years of battling substance abuse, suicidality, and an eating disorder, Elton finally sought treatment via rehab and AA meetings. He celebrated his 30-year sobriety anniversary in June 2020, writing, “If I hadn’t finally taken the big step of asking for help 30 years ago, I’d be dead. Thank-you from the bottom of my heart to all the people who have inspired and supported me along the way.”
Princess Diana
Lady Diana Spencer, the late Princess of Wales, developed bulimia the week after she got engaged to Prince Charles, heir to the British throne.
“My husband put his hand on my waistline and said: ‘Oh, a bit chubby here, aren’t we?’ and that triggered off something in me. I remember the first time I made myself sick, I was so thrilled. I thought, ‘this is the release, the tension,’” she said in a recording to Andrew Morton, who wrote her biography Diana: Her True Story—In Her Own Words.
She also spoke openly about her struggle with bulimia in a 1995 BBC interview, lamenting, “[It’s] like a secret disease. You inflict it upon yourself because your self-esteem is at a low ebb, and you don’t think you’re worthy or valuable.”
At the time, Princess Di’s candor about such a taboo topic was unprecedented. As one writer opined for Elle, “This kind of openness, from someone whose every move was followed by the press, had a major impact on the stigma surrounding eating disorders.”
Russell Brand
Russell Brand revealed he started binge-eating and purging around the time he was 11. “It was really unusual in boys, quite embarrassing. But I found it euphoric,” he said.
As an adult, the bulimia briefly returned and reflecting back, Brand believes it was “about getting out of myself and isolation, feeling inadequate and unpleasant”.
Claire Richards
Steps star Claire Richards said she became so obsessed with her weight at the height of her band’s fame that she developed bulimia.
She said she would binge on food and then purge to please critics and fit into the pop star mould.
In her book, ‘All Of Me’, she wrote: “I was young, in the spotlight and under pressure – not only to perform but to look a certain way. Controlling your food intake gives you the sense you’re in control of life. I remember reading about anorexia when I was just 11. I didn’t know what anorexia was then, but I remembered the word and, years later, I was to understand only too well what it meant.”
If you feel that you may be struggling with Bulimia, why not speak to someone about it. Our therapist directory above could point you in the direction of a trained professional who can help you.
