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Katharine McPhee’s ‘Biggest’ Pregnancy Challenge Was Possible Eating Disorder Relapse

Keeping caution. Katharine McPhee was worried about experiencing an eating disorder relapse while pregnant with her and David Foster’s baby boy.

Related: Revisit Katharine McPhee's Baby Bump Pics

“Body-issue stuff” was the “biggest challenge” for the American Idol alum, 36, while awaiting her little one’s arrival, she said on the Monday, March 1, episode of “Dr. Berlin’s Informed Pregnancy Podcast.”

The singer explained, “It just suddenly came up in a way that hadn’t been present in a long time. Feeling like there was a relapse after getting pregnant was shocking and upsetting and concerning for me because I was suddenly so obsessed with food, starting from this first trimester, and I had such a distortion of the way that I looked.”

Katharine MePhee Biggest Pregnancy Challenge Was Possible Eating Disorder Relapse
Katharine McPhee David Fisher/Shutterstock

The Broadway star, who gained about 40 pounds during her pregnancy, was “so hard” on herself but reached out to a psychiatrist for help.

Related: Victoria Monet Gives Birth to Daughter, More Babies of 2021

“He was just talking through it and asking questions,” the Los Angeles native recalled. “It made me feel so much better that I wasn’t alone in that headspace.”

McPhee was “really ravenous” and “very obsessed with food” in her first trimester and into the second. “You’re like, ‘Is this just the eating disordered-version of me or is this actually my body?’” she explained. “Suddenly, the cues felt really different, and I didn’t know how to interpret them. When I did eat, I would feel really full and it was very confusing. … Suddenly I didn’t have any of it figured out.”

The Smash alum is now “OK” with her body being “a little bit thicker.”

Katharine MePhee Biggest Pregnancy Challenge Was Possible Eating Disorder Relapse
Katharine McPhee Courtesy of Katharine McPhee/Instagram

Us Weekly confirmed on February 24 that McPhee had welcomed her first child, Foster’s sixth. (The composer, 71, is also the father of Allison, 50, Amy, 47, Sara, 40, Erin, 38, and Jordan, 34.)

“Kat McPhee and David Foster are the proud parents of a baby boy,” the new mom’s rep told Us at the time. An insider added, “Everything went well. Mom and baby are healthy.”

News broke of the Country Comfort star’s pregnancy in October 2020, one year after she and the Grammy winner tied the knot.

Katharine MePhee Biggest Pregnancy Challenge Was Possible Eating Disorder Relapse David Foster
David Foster and Katharine McPhee Christopher Victorio/imageSPACE/Shutterstock

McPhee was previously married to Nick Cokas from 2008 to 2016. Two years after wedding the actor, 55, she opened up to Shape magazine about her eating disorder.

Related: Famous Fathers Who Had Kids Late in Life

“The more I focused on my weight, the worse my bulimia got,” the “Open Toes” singer said in January 2010. “Now I’m more easygoing. I stopped fighting myself and became more forgiving of my body. Ironically, the weight came off naturally through exercise but no dieting.”

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