Jennette McCurdy has opened up about her past battles with bulimia nervosa and anorexia, which she revealed began at the young age of 11.
During a new interview on Mayim Bialik's "Breakdown podcast this week, the 29-year-old star claimed her late mom suggested that she restrict her diet to delay puberty, specifically to help her land roles as a child star.
'My mom was the person that introduced me to anorexia, actually,' the former actress recalled. 'I had a lump in my breast, which was my boob developing, and I was scared that it was cancer because of my mom's cancer.'
Getting real: Jennette McCurdy opened up about her past battles with bulimia nervosa and anorexia, which she revealed began at the young age of 11
She continued: 'I thought, "Well, she got cancer, now I've got cancer, I've got breast cancer at 11. Like, I'm doomed."'
Jennette's mom Debra, who passed away after a lengthy battle with cancer in 2013, however, explained to Jennette that she didn't have breast cancer, but that she was 'just developing boobs.'
After asking her mother how she could 'not develop boobs,' Jennette said Debra replied: 'Well, there's a thing called calorie restriction.'
So sad: During a new interview on Mayim Bialik's Breakdown podcast this week, the 29-year-old star claimed her late mom suggested she began restricting her diet to delay puberty, specifically to help her land roles as a child star; seen in 2009
'Those were her exact words. She did not say the word anorexia,' Jennette clarified.
A year later, the iCarly alum said she heard the word 'anorexia' for the first time when a doctor expressed concern for her 'rail-thin' appearance and recent weight loss.
After overhearing her mom defend her, Jennette said she thought: 'Mom's looking out for me, Mom wants me to not have breasts so that I don't have breast cancer, Mom wants me to look young so I can book more roles so I can support the family and do the thing.'
'My mom was the person that introduced me to anorexia, actually,' the former actress recalled; seen in the grip of her eating disorder in 2012
Child star: Jennette rose to fame for portraying Sam Puckett on Nickelodeon's iCarly alongside Miranda Cosgrove and Nathan Kress from 2007-2012
Following the loss of her mom at 21, Jennette said she developed bulimia and began purging five to ten times a day.
'That same week [of her death] was the first time that I had sex, the first time that I made myself throw up -- bulimia, which I then had for a few years -- and the first time that I had a drink of alcohol. Those coping mechanisms all kind of hit at once,' she explained.
Eventually, her sister-in-law intervened one Thanksgiving to urge her to seek professional help.
Her story: Jennette's eating disorder began at just 11-years-old, and was unintentionally encouraged by her mother, who also struggled with her own eating disorder growing up. She is seen above in an undated image with her late mom
'I thought that I was this gifted secret-keeper,' she said. 'I wasn't good at that. That was pretty much all I had during that time, was hoping and clinging to the fact that maybe my shame was my own but knowing that, eh, you actually weren't pulling the wool
