One of the interviews she did recently was on wellness influencer Jay Shetty’s podcast On Purpose, in which she opened up about many topics, including her body image and the pressure she felt as a child star.
Hilary, of course, got her big break at just 13 in Lizzie McGuire, and grew up on camera during one of the most notoriously toxic times in celebrity and diet culture — the 2000s. Hilary has shared in the past that she developed an eating disorder at age 17.
On his podcast, Jay Shetty asked her about that time and how she got through it. Hilary said that as a young teen she was confident, but in addition to the “normal” insecurities that came with puberty, she had to deal with the extra scrutiny that came with fame.
“When I was a teenager I was pretty confident,” she said. “But also mixed with the insecurities of your teenhood and your early 20s, of course those normal things came up, and then on top of it I was dealing with, like, yes, people commenting on my body at a young age and starting to get photographed, and people asking you how many times you weigh yourself, or comparing you to people that were thinner than you or other girls in your line of work.”
Speaking of her eating disorder, she shared that it occurred during a particularly hectic time in her life. “During a time of like ‘I’m on tour, I’m filming a movie — you know, a lot of moving parts to my life, and also just trying to form as a person,” she said. “I definitely struggled for a little while there just trying to fit a certain mold and have control over something in my life.”
Hilary added, “Thankfully that was pretty short lived,” but said that it took time for her to properly gain fresh perspective and focus.
“Honestly I think it took just time and bigger things happening in my life — like having children — that took the spot of the other things that didn’t mean as much to worry about,” she said.
Here’s to Hilary — and all of us — thriving.
Fashion from the ’00s may be back, but the toxic body standards should be so yesterday.