The power of words. It may have been difficult for Lisa Rinna and Harry Hamlin’s daughter Amelia Gray Hamlin to publicly open up about her battle with anorexia, but she’s glad she did it.
The 18-year-old reflected on her decision to be vulnerable in an emotional essay for Glamour magazine published on Monday, June 23. “I didn’t tell anyone I planned to ‘come out,’ so to speak. Instead I took my phone down to the beach to be alone and started drafting an Instagram post — just writing it down helped me a lot,” Amelia began. “I started crying. Even for me, it was powerful to read the truth. I felt lighter.”
Amelia went on to note that when the before-and-after photos she shared along with her story began to go viral, Rinna, 55, was initially not thrilled with the fact her daughter had shared something so personal. “But at the end of the day it was my story,” Amelia wrote. “It was something I had gone through. I had the right to decide how and when to talk about it.”
The teenager explained: “If I’m being honest, if I hadn’t come out about my eating disorder when I did, I probably would have relapsed.” Amelia added that sharing her story has helped keep her accountable.
Earlier this month, Amelia’s struggle played out on an episode of the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, in which she treated both her mom and dad poorly as they encouraged her to eat. As the episode aired, Amelia took to social media to share more about her journey with anorexia, and hit back at commenters who pointed blame at Rinna for the teen’s health.
“She really gets the heat of the body shaming related to me,” Amelia penned in her essay. “I wish I could pull up a screen and show the world a play-by-play of my past. My mom tried to help me so much, but every time I’d just be like, ‘No, I’m fine, I’m just on a weight-loss journey.’ To have people saying she didn’t do enough hurts my heart so much. If they could only see how much I rejected her help and how much I pushed her away — it hurts me for her.”
If you or someone you know is struggling with an eating disorder, contact the National Eating Disorders Association at (800) 931-2237.
