Lisa Rinna’s Daughter Amelia Gray Hamlin, 16, Reveals Anorexia Struggle

Raw, touching words. Amelia Gray Hamlin, daughter of Real Housewives star Lisa Rinna and actor Harry Hamlin, wrote a brave message to her 276,000 followers on Sunday, April 1, opening up for the first time about her battle with anorexia.

I feel comfort with finally posting something that I wish I was confident enough to post long ago. I’m getting many comments comparing my body today vs. my body last year. I think that the support from my followers has really pushed me into writing this. Anyways, last year at this time there was no doubt that I was not okay. Not only physically but also mentally. I feel like sometimes people forget that just because your job involves being in front of the camera, doesn’t mean you can’t have bad days. We’re human. All of us. Instead of people ever commenting on my mental stability, people commented on my weight. Usually, when people are struggling with an eating disorder it stems from your mind, and your body is a reflection of it. I could go on and on about that time of my life, but the most important part about it was waking up one morning and deciding to stop sabotaging myself. My health, my physical health, my mental health and everything about myself. Once I got the help that I needed, shortly after the second photo was taken, I began to try to love myself for me. I am SO beyond humbled and grateful to have the platform that I do at such a young age, and to wake up every morning with a little girl reaching out to me and telling me I am her inspiration, really makes me feel like I have a purpose. I went through this journey not for attention, not for people to pitty me, but to help. I am on this earth to help people, and I know that. One in 200 women in the US suffer from anorexia. And I want to help. The first photo, taken today is not a photo of the perfect girl. That is a photo of me, trying to figure out my body, and owing my curves that I naturally have, and not forcing myself to starve them away. I have a lot of health complications after starving myself for so long so it’s going to be a journey that I go through for a large part of my life. I still have an extremely healthy life style and I workout so hard all week to maintain my Body. Not to say that recently being diagnosed with hashimotos has also been an extreme challenge for me to balance when still getting over this part of my life, but I am getting there. One day at a time. I want to help.

A post shared by Amelia (@ameliagray) on Mar 31, 2018 at 5:57pm PDT

“Last year at this time there was no doubt that I was not okay. Not only physically but also mentally,” the 16-year-old model captioned an Instagram post showing herself in a bikini this year and last year. “Instead of people ever commenting on my mental stability, people commented on my weight. Usually, when people are struggling with an eating disorder it stems from your mind, and your body is a reflection of it.”

She continued, “I could go on and on about that time of my life, but the most important part about it was waking up one morning and deciding to stop sabotaging myself. My health, my physical health, my mental health and everything about myself. Once I got the help that I needed, shortly after the second photo was taken, I began to try to love myself for me.”

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Hamlin now wants to help inspire other young people to embrace their bodies. “I went through this journey not for attention, not for people to [pity] me, but to help,” she explained. “I am on this earth to help people, and I know that.”

The teenager knows she still has a way to go, including coping with the “extreme challenge” of her Hashimoto’s disease — a condition that causes the immune system to attack the thyroid — diagnosis. “The first photo, taken today is not a photo of the perfect girl. That is a photo of me, trying to figure out my body, and [owning] my curves that I naturally have, and not forcing myself to starve them away,” she wrote. “I have a lot of health complications after starving myself for so long so it’s going to be a journey that I go through for a large part of my life. I still have an extremely healthy lifestyle and I work out so hard all week to maintain my body.”

Hamlin concluded her post by reiterating that she wants to aid others as she continues her own recovery “one day at a time.”

In this article

Harry Hamlin

Lisa Rinna