Lucy Hale Opens Up For The First Time About Eating Disorders, Relationships & Addiction | E224

Lucy assumed that landing a hit show, fame, and financial security would make her feel whole. Instead, Pretty Little Liars intensified her body dysmorphia, anxiety, and sense of being a fraud. She describes realizing that 'it fixed literally nothing' and often made things worse because her internal state did not match the glamorous external image. This disconnect forced her to confront that no achievement could substitute for doing deep inner work.

Lucy’s eating disorder began around 13–15, before Hollywood, and consumed her thoughts from waking to sleep. Restriction, obsessive weighing, and over-exercising became a way to impose control when life and emotions felt chaotic. She later understood it wasn’t truly about being thin, but about believing she wasn’t enough and didn’t deserve basic care—saying she hated herself so much she couldn’t even give her body food. Recovery involved learning to enjoy food again, appreciating her body, and building genuine self-worth.

Lucy describes alcohol as initially feeling like the missing piece that freed her, made her 'fun' and likable, and quieted her relentless mind. Over time, binge drinking led to blackouts, shame, depression, and anxiety, but she emphasizes 'alcohol isn’t the problem, the problem is this feeling inside of me; alcohol was the solution for a while.' Attempts to quit for others (partners, her mom, her career, vanity) failed; sustained sobriety only came when she decided she deserved more and had to try living a different way for herself.

Lucy explains that constantly doing things to be liked—rather than from genuine desire—generated bottled-up anger and resentment. Because she didn’t express it directly, it surfaced through destructive behaviors (disordered eating, drinking, chaotic relationships). She now recognizes people-pleasing as inherently inauthentic and works to live in alignment with her values: honesty, justice, loyalty, and letting people 'meet her where she’s at' instead of settling.

Looking back on her younger self, Lucy replaces contempt with compassion, seeing a teenager using the only coping tools she had. She actively engages in inner-child work (e.g., writing letters to younger Lucy, 'giving her the stage' to express pain) and daily positive affirmations, even when they feel awkward. This reframing allows her to feel proud of surviving dark periods and to see her struggles as the source of her empathy, perspective, and current emotional strength.