Portia De Rossi, wife of Ellen DeGeneres, spoke openly about her struggle with eating disorders on both The Oprah Winfrey Show on November 1, 2010 and November 4, 2010 in an interview on Ellen's talk show. Portia spoke about her struggle of anorexia and bulimia in her book "Unbearable Lightness: A Story of Loss and Gain." The actress starred on television shows including Ally McBeal and Arrested Development. Portia was acclaimed as a sex symbol by the world, until she married Ellen DeGeneres in 2008.
Beginning at age 12 Portia went on her first diet which would lead to her eventual life threatening battle with eating disorders. When she began modeling she spoke about crash diets trying to lose as much weight as possible before photo shoots. "After the diet, I'd do the job, I'd binge, and then I'd have a few days to get the weight off before I did the next job,” says Portia. “But as the jobs got booked back-to-back, I had to get the weight off faster, so I used laxatives, I used diuretics, and then when that didn't work, I was forced to purge...to throw up." -Portia De Rossi
During her interview Portia spoke about the pressures of working on television. She felt as if her weight was the only thing she had control over while she lacked control over her character and their actions. While facing scenes where she was required to remove clothing she heard feedback like she looked healthy and normal, which translate to any model or actress as chubby and voluptuous. Body dis morphia disorder (BDD) is also a large factor is most women with eating disorders. This disorder is when a person thinks he or she is larger than they really are. They look in the mirror and see fat while others look at them and see too thin.
The pressures of being a model got harder when Portia had her first modeling shoot for L'Oreal and all the sample sizes of clothing for her to wear were too small. This only added to the incredible amount of pressures she was feeling at the time to become thinner than ever. She then turned to extreme diet and exercise to shed the healthy weight.
"When she rose to fame in the late '90s, the press said she oozed sex appeal and Rolling Stone magazine branded her "a hot bombshell."-The Oprah Winfrey Show
People magazine did an interview with Portia where she opened up about the worst time in her life, when she weighed only 82 pounds. The media including Tabloids in Portia's case were a constant watchdog on the weight of the stars, whether they are too fat or too thin. Always watching for unhealthy signs of weight gain or loss.
"The Secret that Nearly Killed Her," is the one about Portia De Rossi's struggle with eating disorders, but that isn't the only secret Portia was hiding. She was also keeping her sexual orientation a secret from the world. The truth that Portia is a lesbian.
