Hilary Duff recalls paparazzi 'zooming in' on her cellulite during early fame: 'You’re never just enough'
Hilary Duff is proud of her body — but it took a while to get there.
The How I Met Your Father star caught up with Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager during a recent segment on Today with Hoda & Jenna, where she spoke openly about how being a teen star in the early 2000s impacted her body image.
“I came up in a time where paparazzi was taking a picture of your every move and zooming in on your cellulite,” she recalled.
We’re catching up with actor, mom and cover girl Hilary Duff about her “Women’s Health” cover shoot, new project and more! pic.twitter.com/199aJlLd78
— TODAY with Hoda & Jenna (@HodaAndJenna) May 18, 2022
The actress had a string of successful hits in her early career — covering music, film and TV, but most notably starring on the Disney Channel show Lizzie McGuire. But despite the fame and glory, Duff said it came with a heavy price.
“You were either too thin or you’re too fat. ‘How can you be on TV?’” she reflected on the criticism she received back then. “You’re never just enough or right for people — in that time. Now, I feel like body positivity is such a big topic and all the bullies are shamed now. But that [wasn’t the case] when I was coming up.”
These days, Duff — who has three kids: Luca, 10, whom she shares with ex Mike Comrie; and daughters Banks, 3, and Mae, 1, whom she shares with husband Matthew Koma — is learning to love her body in all its phases.
“I’m really proud of my body,” she said of the positive feedback she received from her nude Women’s Health cover. “I’ve been on TV nursing babies, pregnant, in many shapes and forms. [The cover shoot] was a great motivator to get my butt back in shape. Who knows how long I’m gonna hang onto that because I’m always in the 10-pound struggle — or just life. I don’t know if we call it a struggle.”
On stripping down for the cover shoot, the actress added, “It was scary. I love to do things that make me a little uncomfortable because I think there’s growth there. I’m not a person who loves to be naked by any stretch of the imagination…. And I loved it.”
Duff had previously spoken about the pride she has in her body in her interview with Women's Health.
“I’m proud of my body,” she told the magazine. “I’m proud that it’s produced three children for me. I’ve gotten to a place of being peaceful with the changes my body has gone through. I also want people to know a makeup artist was there putting glow all over my body and someone put me in the most flattering position.”
“We bust our ass to get our bodies in shape and to look the best we can,” she noted. “We get facials and Botox and our hair done and highlights and brows and lash lifts and all this s**t. But I want to work on the inside. That’s the most important part of the system.”
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