Kerry Washington has revealed she contemplated suicide as she battled an eating disorder at college.
A new excerpt from the Scandal actress’ memoir Thicker Than Water has aired on Good Morning America. In it Kerry admitted her relationship with food and her body image had become a “toxic cycle of self-abuse” as she experimented with "starvation, binge eating and compulsive exercise".
“I could feel how the abuse was a way to really hurt myself, as if I didn’t want to be here. It scared me that I could not want to be here because I was in so much pain,” Kerry told Robin Roberts in an interview to accompany the excerpt.
When Robin asked if she had ever thought about suicide, Kerry replied: “Yeah. Yeah… The behaviour was tiny little acts of trying to destroy myself.”
The 46-year-old star recalled she excelled at appearing to be “perfect” and continued to impress academically despite partying hard.
“I was good at control,” she said. “I could party all night and drink and smoke and have sex and still show up and have good grades.”
Kerry also insisted she has now developed a “healthier” relationship with food and her body image.
“I wouldn’t say that I never act out with food, it’s just very different now,” she added. “It’s not to the extreme. There’s no suicidal ideation, that is not where I am anymore.
“The bottom has gotten a lot higher where just a little discomfort with it is enough for me to know this is a way to check myself.”
Kerry’s full interview with Robin is due to air on Sunday, with her book set to be released on 26 September.
