Katie says she's battling bulimia during her college years, while Demi has had misconception about her body since she was just 3 years old.
- Sep 25, 2012
AceShowbiz - Katie Couric, 55, and Demi Lovato, 20, have something in common. Both of the female stars struggled with body-image issues at some points in their lives and they came out victorious in their fight against their inner demons. They revealed their struggles on "Katie" episode that aired Monday, September 24.
"I wrestled with bulimia all through college and for two years after that. And I know this rigidity, this feeling that if you eat one thing that's wrong, you're full of self-loathing and then you punish yourself, whether it's one cookie or a stick of gum that isn't sugarless, that I would sometimes beat myself up for that," Katie told eating disorders specialist, Dr. Cynthia Bulik.
Demi, meanwhile, started facing the problem at much younger age. "I remember being three years old in a diaper and rubbing my hand over my stomach ... and I remember thinking in my head 'I wonder if one day this will ever be flat?' " she opened up before recalling being labeled fat by her friends.
"[It] played more of a toll on me than if I was physically abused in school," she said of the constant bullying she endured from her peers. "I've always said I wished that they had just hit me in the face and gotten it over with because what they said to me sticks to me to this day and it affected me, (turned) me into the person I am today. I was bullied and they called me fat and they called me horrible things."
Revisiting her times in rehab, the former Disney star remembered, "Treatment was so difficult at first, I remember walking around saying 'I'm in prison!'. They needed to have those strict rules in order for me to understand how sick I was. I wasn't allowed to use the bathroom by myself. We had specific phone times."
She continued, "There are tons of things you weren't allowed to have, you weren't allowed to have certain hair products or whatever that you could injure yourself with or possibly drink and you were just stripped of a lot of things. I also had somebody watching over me every single time I ate."
In addition to sitting down for an interview, Demi sang "Give Your Heart A Break":
