Naya Rivera has opened up about a pair of very personal subjects.
The actress will release a memoir titled “Sorry Not Sorry” on September 13 and People Magazine has featured an exclusive preview of what fans can expect from the book.
The two most notable tidbits so far?
1. Rivera suffered from an eating disorder as a child.
2. She went through with an abortion in 2010.
“I’ve done a lot of living,” Rivera tells People. “I’m a 79-year-old trapped in a 29-year-old’s body.”
She then goes on to explain why.
Yes, the memoir is filled with many light and humorous stories. It gives us insight into an actress who started in Hollywood long before kindergarten.
But it also delves into Rivera’s battle with anorexia.
“By the time I was a sophomore, I started feeling that what had begun as a game had maybe gone too far. I just avoided food at all costs,” she writes in Sorry Not Sorry, explaining her reaction to her parents splitting up and reuniting at the same time her acting career was stalling.
“If my mom had packed a lunch for me, I’d either trash it or find some excuse to give it away.”
Rivera says she didn’t fully understand the severity of her eating disorder until she decided to write about it in her biography.
“I was so young and it just seemed to be the norm. Everyone was going through similar stuff,” she tells People.
“I had no way of knowing if I was going through it worse. I was juggling my feelings and it makes me sad that there are girls still going through that 15 years after I went through it.”
Then there’s the abortion.
Rivera discovered she pregnant with actor Ryan Dorsey’s child in late 2010, mere weeks after breaking up with him to focus on her career.
The timing really could not have been much worse.
Rivera is now married to Dorsey and the two are the parents of an 11-month old son.
At the time, however, she did not tell Dorsey that was pregnant or that she had made plans to terminate the pregnancy.
“It was very scary to open up about everything,” says Rivera. “It’s not something a lot of people talk about, but I think they should. I know some people might read it and say, ‘What the Hell?’
“But I hope someone out there gets something out of it.”
Pretty brave admissions here by Rivera, wouldn’t you say?
We salute her for opening up in such a frank manner and we wish her the best of luck moving forward.
As previously mentioned, “Sorry Not Sorry” comes out on September 13.
Will you be picking up a copy?