This Is Us star Chrissy Metz goes public with childhood abuse

This Is Us star Chrissy Metz is shedding light on a dark aspect of her past in an emotional new on-camera interview.

Chrissy Metz is shedding light on a dark aspect of her past.

The This is Us TV star opened up about her stepfather on the latest instalment of Jamie Kern Lima’s eponymous podcast, revealing that he “would weigh [her] in the kitchen or threaten to lock the cupboards.”

While Metz highlighted that she “think[s] there’s so much more awareness now around food, food issues, food behaviour” and that “we educate people, the fear goes away,” she proposed that “maybe he was just fearful.”

“I don’t really know,” she continued. “But yeah, I mean, [it was] definitely mental, physical, emotional abuse for sure.”

Chrissy Metz is opening up about the “mental, physical, emotional abuse” she endured as a child.

She further elaborated on how his comments influenced her, noting, “the emotional stuff … they’re like little nicks, little cuts, and eventually you bleed out. It is painful.”

She questioned, “Why does my weight equate my worthiness? And as a 12-year-old kid, it’s like, how do you reconcile that in your mind?”

These feelings about her weight transcended her relationship with her stepfather, as she reflected on how her appearance impacted how she felt among her friends growing up.

“You look like none of your other friends and you can’t fit into any of the cute Wet Seal clothes that they can fit into,” Metz recalled. “You’re like, ‘Oh, let me borrow your necklace.’”

She remembered that “all the boys liked [her] friends,” claiming that she “always felt like [she] was setting [her] friends up with cute boys.” Nonetheless, she highlighted, “I think I’m trying to heal those wounds slowly but surely. And it’s not easy … The root of it is, ‘I’m unworthy.’”

Metz as a child.

Metz says she noticed a real change in people’s perception of her when she became famous. Picture: Getty

Metz acknowledged that “there’s so much stigma about weight,” but pointed out the hypocrisy of “beautiful models [being] on a pedestal,” despite the fact that “they’re not taking care of their bodies.”

Prior to starring on This Is Us, Metz said that people would “sigh, or wouldn’t look at [her] or wouldn’t engage” if she was seated next to them on an aeroplane. However, “they want to have a conversation or they were more apt to want to sit next to [her]” since she became famous, which she has since called out.

“I don’t understand it,” she concluded. “That kind of behaviour … it makes you not want to trust people.”

Metz reunited with her This is Us co-stars Mandy Moore and Jon Huertas at the SAG-AFTRA strike back in August 2023. The drama series ran for six seasons from 2016 until 2022. Metz most recently starred in the 2023 horror film A Creature Was Stirring.

This story originally appeared on Decider and is republished here with permission.

Originally published as This Is Us star Chrissy Metz goes public with childhood abuse