“Secrets of a Mormon Wife” star Leila Taylor has opened up about a “strange” experience with a fellow model that may have triggered the eating disorder she has struggled with for years.
“I’ve had strange experiences before,” Taylor prefaced while speaking with Page Six’s “Virtual Reali-Tea” hosts Evan Real and Danny Murphy.
“At a show I went to, I was hanging out with some of the models while I was getting ready for the gram in the morning and I was like, ‘Does anyone want anything from Starbucks? I’m going to get some food from DoorDash.'”
“This was before my eating disorder flared up again,” she said. “Then all the girls were like, ‘No, we’re not going to eat before the show.’
Taylor said the negative experience reinforced the perception of the modeling industry that “you have to be thin” and “you can’t eat.”
The reality TV star also opened up about the “really bad” rejection she faced from Ford Models. It aired on season 4 of the Hulu show.
“That rejection is when someone physically looks at you and says no. That’s obviously very difficult, especially for someone like me who’s dealing with such bad body image issues and self-confidence issues to begin with.”
Taylor can now look back on the experience as a “blessing in disguise.” That’s because she signed with a modeling agency that feels like home to her.
“Especially with what I handle internally. I needed an agency that was more of a friendship than a business, and I feel like that’s what I found,” she explained.
In fact, the model’s 30-piece collection with Shopo, “Becoming by Layla Taylor,” launched on Monday, and Taylor described it as “choosing myself over and over again.”
Last month, Taylor entered treatment for an “extreme” eating disorder and stopped taking GLP-1 weight loss drugs.
“For the past two years, I have been quietly battling an eating disorder that I think I forgot about in high school,” the 25-year-old wrote on Instagram.
“Long before I came into contact with[GLP-1 drugs]I had been experiencing conflict. I was alone and exhausted, fighting in my own brain, trying to pretend everything was okay and receiving comments about my body every day.”
Taylor described his recovery as “messy and far from linear,” but acknowledged there have been good days and bad days along the way.
“I’m still learning how to choose self-love over self-criticism,” she wrote. “Even this video of my bodies side by side is inspiring. But I’m still fighting, not just for me, but because my sons deserve to be healthy and the moms they are now.”
If you or someone you know is struggling with an eating disorder, call the toll-free ANAD Helpline at 1-888-375-7767.
