[Warning: Potentially Triggering Content]
Candace Cameron Bure made a shocking admission on the most recent episode of her podcast: that she still considers herself to be battling an eating disorder, even after all these years into adulthood.
On this week’s episode of her eponymous podcast, which dropped on Tuesday, the 49-year-old television veteran and former child star welcomed author Lisa Whittle as her guest. And just like she did a couple weeks back, Candace once again unexpectedly revealed something shocking to her audience.
While the pair were discussing disordered eating, Candace said she still considers herself to be bulimic after struggling with the eating disorder in her youth because “the thoughts never leave me.” Whoa…
Related: Candace Thinks Scary Movies Open A Portal To Hell! Seriously?!
Bure, who played DJ Tanner on Full House as a child, was moved to share her story when Whittle began to discuss her past battles with bulimia and anorexia. In response, Candace said she believes bulimia has never left her, even as an adult:
“I, too, developed an eating disorder, when I was 18. It was binging and purging. I’m a bulimic. And I still say I’m a bulimic.”
While she was quick to note that she does not engage in bulimic behavior nowadays, Candace nevertheless pointed out that she still fights that battle in her mind all the time:
“The thoughts — whether I’m doing that or not — they never leave me. So I still need the tools to just say, ‘No, Candace, we’re not doing that.’”
Wow.
Looking back, Candace said her parents did “the best job in protecting” her from disordered eating problems while growing up. But after Growing Pains star Tracey Gold — who starred on the iconic sitcom with Candace’s brother Kirk Cameron — left that show to get treatment for an eating disorder, Bure said her parents got “really afraid” of the same thing happening to her.
After all, she was on television herself in Full House. Heck, there was even a very special episode where her character DJ Tanner suffered from an eating disorder!
And so, her parents took action. Candace recalled:
“I had cheeks and I had thicker arms and I was, like, a normal 12-year-old, you know? I really was a normal 12-year-old, but I had a little bit more fat on me than other kids on TV. They were just fearful that I would develop an eating disorder, just because of all of the pressures.”
And she remembered what her parents did:
“They said, ‘let’s make sure we make good choices with food,’ but everyone in my house was always on a diet. My mom was always on a diet. My sisters were always on a diet. I was always put on a diet. But it wasn’t like, ‘Oh, you have to lose weight.’ [It was like], ‘we want to teach you how to be healthy and exercise.’”
She explained that her parents framed their concern as “preventative,” but noted:
“That completely shaped my viewpoint that I had about myself and the feelings about my body. I’m on TV … and I don’t want to be too fat compared to other actors. My parents never wanted a producer to come up to me and say, like, ‘We need your child to lose weight,’ so let’s do everything preventative.”
What a difficult situation — and a difficult time for a young woman. Ugh.
In the end, all that concern actually backfired. Candace recalled:
“That very thing just shaped the way I looked at my body, which was like, ‘Oh, it’s not good enough the way it is right now.’ That that kind of started young … [and continued] through my teenage years.”
And now, the fight continues.
Candace did say her husband Valeri Bure has “been this incredible support” to her as she continues to battle bulimic thoughts as an adult. But that doesn’t mean that she’s had it easy. She summed up:
“I feel like a broken record. I’m 49 years old and I’m like, ‘why do I think about this so much? Why does it even matter so much?’ It’s so ridiculous. And yet I’m still thinking about it.”
Ugh.
You can watch the full podcast episode (below):
Sending all our love to Candace. Never an easy or simple thing to grapple with — no matter how old you are.
If you’re struggling with an eating disorder, there is help available. Consider visiting https://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/ or call their hotline at (800)-931-2237 for resources.
[Image via ABC/YouTube/Candace Cameron Podcast/YouTube]
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