In 2006, Beyoncé told Oprah Winfrey she went on a restrictive juice fast to prepare for her role in Dream Girls. Known as Master Cleanse, this process is a 10-day cleanse that involves subsisting on a drink made of lemon, maple syrup, and cayenne pepper plus water six to 12 times a day — plus vegetables, for 14 days.

More recently, Beyoncé has sold her plant-based recipes, but her three-week plan provides just 1,400 calories a day while somehow containing a green smoothie containing eight teaspoons of sugar!

In 2022, controversial stand-up comedian, MMA fighter, podcast host, and keen hunter Joe Rogan revealed he went on a strict eating regime consisting only of meat and fruit… or animal products such as eggs.

The ketogenic celeb wolfed down bacon or ribeye steak with eggs for breakfast, then ate grass-fed elk, bison, or steak for dinner while intermittently fasting. Joe needs all that energy to grill his guests during his three-hour long-form podcasts. When we say grill, we don’t mean… he’s a carnivore, not a cannibal.

Fitness entrepreneur, author, and go-to fitness guru to the stars Tracy Anderson lists actresses Reese Witherspoon, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jennifer Lopez, Madonna, and Lady Gaga among advocates of her baby food plan.

The unusual toddlers’ menu allows up to 14 jars of baby food, followed by dinner, consisting of a 400-calorie meal of lean meat and vegetables. According to an interview with InStyle, Reese also loves green smoothies and lentil soup. Even so, Reese occasionally digs into solid food too — including fried steak, pasta, and (naturally) some southern comfort foods.

Katy Perry’s daily intake is one of the most unusual. Her M Plan is straightforward but highly effective. She replaces one meal a day with mushrooms. So, instead of chomping down on her old fave — boot-shaped chicken nuggets — she might have a lovely giant, round portobello mushroom.

Mushrooms are a superfood, so they’re rich in vitamin D, stimulate a healthier gut, support a healthy immune system, and brighten your skin. That means there’s not mushroom for snacking, and it makes you a real fungi to hang out with (ha, get it?)!

The greatest quarterback the NFL has ever seen, Tom Brady, used his own 12-step nutrition plan to keep throwing touchdowns into his 40s. The ex-New England Patriot and ex-Mr. Gisele Bündchen said he never eats nightshades. While they might sound like something from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, nightshades include veggies we eat all the time.

Nightshades include tomatoes, white potatoes, and eggplants. Brady forgoes them because they apparently cause inflammation and raise the body’s pH — though there’s no scientific evidence to date showing nightshade vegetables cause inflammation. Still, Tom even wrote a nutritional book about it.

Singer Taylor Swift, actresses Jessica Alba and Gwyneth Paltrow, supermodels Miranda Kerr and Karlie Kloss — plus several other celebrities — swear by a tiny miracle food loved by the ancient Aztec civilization. That superfood is chia seeds.

The minuscule protein-packed seeds are native to the southwestern United States, Mexico, and Guatemala and are loaded with fiber and B vitamins. English singer Ellie Goulding has recently posted photos of her chia pudding with an added dollop of peanut butter to Instagram.

When Twitter founder Jack Dorsey appeared on fitness author Ben Greenfield’s podcast, he revealed he only eats one meal a day. That one meal is dinner — and it consists of either fish, chicken, or steak, with a side of spinach salad, asparagus, arugula, or Brussels sprouts.

Jack has mixed berries or dark chocolate for dessert, and dinner has to be after 6:30 p.m. but before 9 p.m. Dorsey also fasts during the weekends, only breaking his fast on Sunday night with a bone broth. Mmmmm… bone broth. Yummy!

In a March 2023 interview with The Art of Being Well Podcast, Gwyneth Paltrow said her wellness protocol for longevity and gut health sees her start the day with a coffee before fasting until around midday. Gwyneth says her mix of intermittent fasting and IV drips supports her detox life.

The Goop wellness brand founder exercises at least an hour daily, drinks bone broth for lunch, spends half an hour in her infrared sauna, and finally eats an early paleo dinner.

Texas native and pop sensation Selena Gomez explained how they like their popcorn in the Lone Star State. Instead of the typical salt or caramel flavorings, Selena demonstrated how to mix up Tex-Mex-style popcorn on NBC’s The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.

She mixes her popcorn with salt, adds a dash of hot Tabasco sauce, then a splash of pickle juice before shaking well to ensure every little puffed corn kernel is well-coated. We’ve gotta give that one a try.

You may joke that Steve Jobs only ate apples, but it’s not so far from the truth! The late Apple founder was a strict fruitarian and existed mainly on apples and oranges. One biography stated Jobs would sometimes turn “a sunset-like orange hue.”

His obsession with fasting and extreme food restriction has been described as a full-blown eating disorder. When Ashton Kutcher played Steve Jobs in a biopic, he went full method-actor and followed Steve’s eating habits for a month before ending up in the hospital!

During a 2016 E! News interview, Mariah Carey admitted she’d been up to something fishy. The well-known warbler blabbed, “All you eat is Norwegian salmon and capers every day — that’s it,” but said she tries to “stick to the proteins” and that it’s “the worst.”

Three years later, though, the “All I Want for Christmas Is You” singer was seen on British TV screens advertising Christmas-themed potato chips, including Brussels Sprout flavor. And you wouldn’t want to be stuck in a small Christmas ski chalet with Mariah after eating those!

When we think of Chris Hemsworth, we immediately think of muscle-bound Thor. But when the hunky Australian actor had to play a malnourished, shipwrecked sailor in 2015’s In the Heart of the Sea, he turned to intermittent fasting.

As the name suggests, the strict time-based regimen limits eating habits to perhaps eating within an eight-hour window, then fasting for 16 hours. Hemsworth’s personal trainer Luke Zocchi stated, “We implemented intermittent fasting, along with lower calories, and it was crazy how much that worked.”

In 2018, former model, socialite, media personality, and beauty industry businesswoman Kylie Jenner made headlines when she revealed that she had only recently tried her breakfast cereal with milk for the first time. She called the result “life-changing.”

Now, if you think she ate her cereal with water (because the Jenner clan couldn’t afford milk!), you’d be wrong. Kylie explained that in the past, she’d preferred eating dry cereal more than the idea of drenching it with milk.

You can always rely on Nicolas Cage to make things weird — and his nutritional habits are no different. The beloved eccentric Hollywood actor revealed he only eats meat from animals who mate in “a dignified way,” he explained.

“But pigs, not so much. So I don’t eat pig meat or things like that. I eat fish and fowl” because their love lives are more “decorous.” Of course, Nicolas Cage wouldn’t eat pork because his best friend is a pig, as seen in the 2021 film, Pig.

One of Jennifer Lawrence’s homemade favorites is something she calls The Chili Pizza Sandwich. JLaw explained to Glamour magazine that her culinary masterpiece is simple to make. All you need is, “A piece of pizza, and you put chili in it — like Southern chili, with noodles — and then you put another piece of pizza, and then you eat it like a sandwich.”

We can only presume she came up with the idea while she and Chris Pratt were filming Passengers so they could eat chili in the zero-gravity conditions of outer space.

Chris Hemsworth isn’t the only Marvel star with special nutritional needs. Remember when Drax suggested Star-Lord had a double chin? Well, Chris Pratt swears religiously by The Daniel Fast. The fast is based on the Book of Daniel in the Old Testament and consists of fruit, vegetables, and unleavened bread for 21 days straight.

While he started getting in shape while filming Parks and Recreation, Pratt also stays fit using a workout regime he calls the Guardians of the Galaxy Workout!

Former Spice Girl, fashion designer, wife, and mom Victoria Beckham has eaten fish and vegetables for the last 20 years. But, don’t take our word for it — this is according to her husband, soccer star David Beckham.

In early 2022, the former England captain explained that Victoria rarely deviates from her go-to meal of grilled fish and steamed veggies. Victoria took to TikTok to clarify she also enjoys healthy fat sources like avocados and nuts.

When she’s not battling Transformers or dating Machine Gun Kelly, Megan Fox drinks apple cider vinegar every morning to keep her fit, healthy, and gorgeous. Megan told The Telegraph newspaper, “It just cleanses out your system entirely.”

And she’s not the only celebrity to swear by the acidic drink. Victoria Beckham downs two shots of apple cider vinegar every morning. Kourtney Kardashian and Katy Perry join in, too. Without sounding too much like a dog food commercial, it also gives you shiny, healthy hair.

When Kim Kardashian wanted to fit into a dress for 2022’s Met Gala, she ate “just the cleanest veggies and protein” for several weeks. This, of course, helps eliminate sugar and carbs. The socialite, media personality, and businesswoman also resorted to wearing a sauna suit and running on a treadmill.

All this just so she could attend America’s most highfalutin fashion events at New York City’s Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute. And guess what… Cinderella did go to the ball!

While he’s not quite as buff as his Marvel comrade, Chris Hemsworth, star David Harbour also turned to intermittent fasting to help him get in shape for season four of Stranger Things. However, while he shed many pounds, fasting was quite a challenge.

Harbour admitted, “It really did work for me. I don’t know if it’s just code for starvation, but it’s basically like… I was hungry a lot of the time.” No wonder he struggled to fit into that Red Guardian uniform!

In 2020, Rebel Wilson radically overhauled her lifestyle, saying it was her Year of Health. The Australian actress used the Mayr Method to cut out sugar, dairy, and gluten. Named after Austrian physician Dr. Franz Xaver Mayr, the method has been around for a century and consists of a complex set of habits, like mindful eating by chewing each bite 40 times.

The Vivamayr chain of luxury wellness and medical spas — a favorite of many Hollywood A-listers — also employs the Mayr Method.

If you thought this lady only ate marmalade, think again! Christina Aguilera has included the seven-day color plan to stay in shape. It involves eating foods of a different color each day of the week, and followers of the fad eat foods in only one color group each day.

The strict order goes white, red, green, orange, purple, yellow, and rainbow, in that order. We tried the seven-day color plan by eating Skittles for a week, but needless to say, it didn’t work.

TV personality and ex-star of MTV’s reality TV show, The Hills, Heidi Montag, has revealed she consumes raw meat to enhance her fertility, inspired by her fascination with anthropology. She was recently spotted in Los Angeles eating raw meat from a clear plastic bag and explained that she savors “sushi-style” meat to retain nutrients.

While raw meat is a rich source of essential vitamins and minerals that can improve energy levels and fertility, it may contain dangerous bacteria and parasites.

Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers recently cut out sugar, booze, and bedroom activities to detox. Instead, he guzzled warm ghee butter and laxatives during an intensive 12-day cleanse.

The practice is called the Panchakarma Cleanse, a traditional Indian Ayurvedic healing practice for the body and mind. The Panchakarma cleanse involves drinking warm clarified butter known as ghee every morning to lubricate the system and drinking laxative tea at night to cleanse his system.

Big Little Lies actress and Aaron Roger’s ex-girlfriend, Shailene Woodley has one of the most bizarre eating habits of anyone. She confessed to swallowing half a teaspoon of clay in water every morning, stating she believes clay “binds to other materials in your body” to help you eliminate “negative isotopes.”

Woodley also said, “Clay is one of the best things you can put in your body,” before confessing she heard about it from a taxi driver. The moral of the story? Don’t believe everything taxi drivers tell you!

Kirsten Dunst has reportedly relied on changing the pH value of the foods she eats. This means cutting out all those supposed acid-forming foods. But you don’t just cut out meat, fish, dairy, eggs, and grains from your intake.

Instead, you replace them with alkaline foods such as fruits, nuts, beans, and vegetables to keep your body at the optimal pH level. Kirsten isn’t the only celeb to use this pH nutritional plan. Jennifer Aniston has also tried it, as has — no surprise here — Gwyneth Paltrow.

Gwyneth also revealed she tried an ancient ritual, “I just tried a goat milk cleanse for eight days to rid my system of parasites. “The theory is that we all have parasites, and they love the milk protein. So if you eat nothing else, they all come out of the intestinal wall, and then you kill them with the herbs.”

In Biblical times, people with parasites would bathe in milk until the parasites came out of the body to drink the milk.

Tennis ace Venus Williams not only went vegan in 2011 after being diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder — she also decided to only eat raw plant-based foods. She said going raw and vegan helped her symptoms.

However, after admitting, “Sometimes, you just need something more substantial,” Venus started eating potatoes, lentils, and other cooked foods for more energy and nutrients. High-profile vegan athletes like American soccer star Alex Morgan and basketball player Chris Paul also swear by raw plant-based foods. Actress Anne Hathaway says the same, too!

Two-thirds of Penn and Teller, Penn Jillette was told by doctors to completely overhaul his lifestyle after they found a 90% blockage in his heart. So, the eccentric illusionist and funnyman chose to eat nothing but potatoes. The magician told ABC, “I picked potatoes because it’s the funniest word.”

This may sound counter-intuitive as it’s crazy, but there was some bizarre logic behind his choice of potatoes. It was a self-enforced mental boot camp test to restrict his eating habits. And the results speak for themselves.

Actress Blake Lively swears by her very own detox juice. It comprises beet, leafy greens like kale and Swiss chard, and fruits like pineapple, apples, and lemon — all topped off with herbs like parsley and mint.

Blake says it not only helps her insides but also helps her skin glow and makes her feel ready for anything, including looking after her four children. Four children? We hear you ask. Well, yes, it’s four if you include Blake’s husband, giant man-baby Ryan Reynolds!

Celebrity food fads are nothing new. Back in the 1950s, actress Marilyn Monroe ate a menu of raw eggs, steak, and hot fudge sundaes. “I have been told my eating habits are absolutely bizarre,” she confessed in a 1952 interview with Pageant magazine.

For breakfast, Marilyn would have two raw eggs whipped in warm milk. She skipped lunch but would have broiled liver, steak, or lamb with five carrots for dinner. “I must be part rabbit,” the blonde bombshell said. She’d wash it all down with a hot-fudge sundae for dessert.

Ex-NFL Tim Tebow doesn’t only rely on prayer to see him through life; he drinks a very special coffee. Like most of us, the former Bronco, Jet, Patriot, Eagle, and Jaguar gets his energy from caffeine, but you won’t find Tim’s morning cup of joe in any high street chain.

He drinks his half-regular, half-decaf coffee with a sliver of butter, unsweetened almond milk, and two or three drops of liquid English Toffee flavor Stevia… all topped off with some heavy organic whipping cream.

Jersey Shore’s Nicole ‘Snooki’ Polizzi undertook some bizarre nutritional therapy to get in shape. She was only allowed to eat nine 90-calorie cookies a day, ending up with a small meal at dinnertime. Nutritionist Dr. Sanford Siegal created this unorthodox cookie plan in 1975 to help people like Jennifer Hudson and Denise Richards eat fewer calories.

So how can eating cookies be a help, not a hindrance? Well, these are no regular cookies Sanford Siegal’s cookies contain a “secret amino acid protein blend” but allegedly still taste just like standard scrumptious cookies.

The King of Rock n’ Roll started off a heartthrob in the 1950s and 60s. In his youth, he loved Southern Soul Food — fried chicken, buffalo wings, meatloaf, and mashed potato. All that pelvis gyrating kept him fit and healthy. But by the time he was 42, he had ballooned to a staggering ​​350 lbs.

In his latter days, Elvis’ favorite food was deep-fried peanut butter, bananas, and crispy bacon sandwiches, which he’d force down one after the other. He passed away in 1977.

Elizabeth Taylor was once known as “the most beautiful woman in the world.” And all that praise comes with some pressure to stay in shape. When Liz was around 50, she wrote a book containing many of her eccentric recipes, including a hamburger and peanut butter sandwich. She must have been hanging out with Elvis!

Liz’s other recipes included tuna salad with grapefruit, served inside the grapefruit — and the Rock Hudson cocktail, which featured a large splash of Hershey’s chocolate syrup.

Melissa Viviane Jefferson, aka Lizzo, is really down to earth about body image. However, the vegan rapper, musician, and actress received backlash from fans when she chronicled her 10-day juice cleanse. She underwent nutritionist J.J. Smith’s intense 10-day smoothie detox to “reset her stomach” after suffering from gastrointestinal issues.

The detox includes “beauty water,” plus “superfood shakes,” and more green juice. She also soaked in herbal baths and used “foot detox pads.” However, Lizzo fans called her out for going against her body-positive ethics.

The Queen of Pop swears by macrobiotic foods. These include whole grains, soy, edible seaweeds, plus fermented foods like sauerkraut and miso. Her Madgesty has also completely sworn off wheat, eggs, meat, and dairy but does include fruits like watermelon, grains such as quinoa, cold-pressed juices, nuts, protein bars, and some veggies like broccoli and kale.

She wolfs all these down in five to six meals a day — three main courses and three snack meals every two to four hours.

Model and actress Brooke Shields seems to have picked up her unusual and limited eating habits from when she was stranded on a desert island in 1980s The Blue Lagoon. Her high protein, low carbohydrate menu sees her exist on just 800 calories per day.

She eats eggs for breakfast, then snacks on grapefruit all day. For dinner, she allows herself “a small piece of meat with vegetables.” She also puts her youthful good looks down to drinking plenty of water, getting plenty of sleep, and taking SoulCycle and Pilates classes.

Legendary German fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld only ate small meals to restrict his calories. He’d have a piece of toast, one egg, juice, and yogurt for breakfast. For dinner, he’d have salmon or quail eggs with Brussels sprouts or veal with plums. But, Karl also drank up to 10 cans of Diet Coke per day.

Lagerfeld lived to the ripe old age of 85, eventually passing away in 2019. The eccentric fashionista wanted to leave $178 million to his dog!

Actress and former host of NBC’s The Biggest Loser Alison Sweeney is obsessed with blueberries. She starts the day with Greek yogurt or oatmeal, topped with blueberries. After her workout, she drinks blue smoothies. She adds them to flatbread pizzas and tops turkey burgers with blueberry jam instead of tomato ketchup.

Alison loves blueberries so much that in 2016, she even starred in a film called The Irresistible Blueberry Farm! We’re surprised she hasn’t turned into a massive blueberry like Violet Beauregarde in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

We didn’t promise that all our celebrity menus would be healthy! In 2016, NASCAR driver-turned-broadcaster Dale Earnhardt Jr. tweeted that his favorite sandwich was banana and mayonnaise on white bread. If you’ve never heard of this yellow and white bready behemoth, Dale insists it’s a North Carolina thang. Dale lists ham, cheese, peanut butter and jelly, then BLTs as his next favorite sandwiches.

While his banana and mayo sandwich tweet angered many healthy eaters, it did land him a sponsorship from Hellman’s Mayonnaise!

Beverly Hills 90210 actress and heiress Tori Spelling is married to chef Dean McDermott. So, if you’re expecting the couple and their five kids to lead a healthy Hollywood lifestyle filled with gourmet food, juice cleanses, and Venice Beach workouts… you’d be a million shades of wrong.

While Dean has written the book, The Gourmet Dad: Easy and Delicious Meals the Whole Family Will Love, he also loves experimenting with gummy bear recipes. Tori’s favorite McDermott creation is his gummy bear salad. Now, you’re talking our language!

Now, you may think that the late great Queen Elizabeth II feasted on the finest foods in the world. Of course, she definitely ate like royalty at lavish dinners, but at home, she was a bit of a stick in the mud. Her Majesty had a bowl of cornflakes and a cup of English Breakfast tea every single morning.

We don’t know if Her Royal Higness’ lunch and dinner were just as regimented, but we can reveal she loved crustless tuna sandwiches with Earl Grey tea.

When Jessica Simpson was pregnant, she swapped her go-to snack of pizza — which she said tasted sour — for a much healthier option; cantaloupe melon. But the singer and actress told People magazine that since she was craving salt, “I put salt all over it, so I don’t know if it’s that healthy.”

Jessica continued, “I crave anything salty and sweet. That mixture, to me, is so good.” She then admitted she used to eat a whole cantaloupe melon in one morning.

Actress, model, and luckiest woman in the world, Eva Mendes, aka Mrs. Ryan Gosling, adheres to Hollywood fitness trainer Harley Pasternak’s nutritional therapy. Harley’s recipe book encourages people to eat five meals per day, which is not far off Hobbits’ six meals per day.

Those five meals consist of just five ingredients but unlike Hobbits — they don’t include bacon, sausages, fried eggs, and rabbit. Pasternak’s quick and simple meals reportedly take just five minutes to prepare, so there’s no excuse!

Even though Miley Cyrus is more active as a singer nowadays, no one can forget her as Hannah Montana. She was and still is our favorite pop star! Even though she seems to have the “best of both worlds” on the show, the truth is she didn’t have it that easy in real life.

Hollywood didn’t go easy on her as a child actor. It was drilled into her head that she was worth nothing without the Hannah Montana wig! This ultimately made her feel a lot of unnecessary pressure.

Don’t we all love Drew Barrymore? She stole our hearts long ago when she portrayed little Gertie in E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. Although she played a sweet and innocent child in the film, that was hardly the case in real life. Drew didn’t have an easy childhood.

She shared in a recent interview that being the sole breadwinner for her family at such an early age put her into risky situations, and Hollywood just made it even worse! This even strained her relationship with her mother and family.

Todd Bridges, a.k.a. Willis from Diff’rent Strokes, is another star who shared their horrible experiences recently. He opened up about an experience as a child actor where he had to go through some unwanted situations.

The interview he had given was for a documentary named An Open Secret. He shared how he faced extreme racism while filming Diff’rent Strokes. However, he finally shared these experiences to help and give strength to other victims.

A very popular show from the ’80s, Punky Brewster follows a young girl and her life being raised by a foster parent. Actress Soleil Moon Frye stole everyone’s heart as the funny and bright Penelope “Punky” Brewster.

However, Soleil’s experience wasn’t that great after the show ended. The actress later shared that, because she had matured early, she was cast in inappropriate roles after the show ended. She also revealed that many people in the industry shamed her as a teen.

Demi Lovato is another celebrity who became a star at a very young age. They were only 10 years old when they got their first break in Barney & Friends. Even though they were destined to be a star, Demi also shared that their experiences as a child actor weren’t so sweet.

They recently shared that, while working at a young age, they were abused by a fellow young actor. They shared that even though they reached out about it to people who could do something about it, they didn’t get any help or support.

We all know how the Jonas Brothers rose to fame. They were very young when they became a worldwide sensation. However, their popularity came with a price.

In an interview, Joe — the band’s guitarist and second-eldest brother of the family — recently shared that, because they wore purity rings and the fact that they had specific contracts with Disney, their projects were heavily monitored. He also shared that this put them in a box and even hampered their creative flow. This was made worse when they tried to break away and do things on their own.

How can any kid that grew up in the 2000s forget a show like That’s So Raven!? It’s quite impossible! There are very few people who didn’t love Raven Symone on that show. However, Symone’s journey as a child star in Hollywood wasn’t as fun as the show made it seem.

She recently shared that while working in Hollywood, she faced a lot of body shaming. She was even told that she wasn’t the right person to do an hour-long concert because she was too “big” for that. As a result of this pressure, Symone suffered quite a bit emotionally.

There was a time when One Direction was equivalent to today’s BTS. Niall, Liam, Harry, Louis, and Zayn stole every girl’s heart. Like many other stars on this list, the band members were really young when their popularity skyrocketed.

However, their journey wasn’t that smooth. For Zayn especially, it was even more challenging. Apparently, he and the others in the band were highly monitored. He even shared how he wasn’t allowed to grow out his beard because he looked older than the other boys in the band.

We all know Jennette McCurdy from iCarly in which she played alongside Miranda Cosgrove. Her popularity also came at a price. Now that she’s all grown up and out of the spotlight, she has revealed how Hollywood’s certain body size expectations made her life way more complicated than it should have been.

She even shared that these expectations instigated her eating disorder at the young age of 11. We can’t imagine how she went through it, but we know now that she isn’t the only child star who suffered because of these expectations.

Cole Sprouse is all grown up now; he’s not that little Ben from Friends anymore or Julian from Big Daddy! He and his identical twin brother, Dylan, have worked as child actors ever since they were a few years old. However, as Cole was growing up, he had a lot of questions about the industry he was working in.

He felt that the environment of Hollywood was “insular” and provided little opportunity for different experiences. That’s why he chose to take a little break from acting to attend college alongside Dylan. He has since returned to the industry.

Anyone that says they’re not a fan of Mara Wilson is lying! She was probably one of the most lovable child stars of the ’90s. Unsurprisingly, though, Wilson had a very bitter experience working in the industry as a little girl.

She shared some awkward situations that made her feel uncomfortable and humiliated as a girl who was just hitting puberty. As a preteen, she had to face what every middle schooler was most afraid of. This makes us wonder if Hollywood really even cares about the treatment of child stars!

Billie Eilish is another star who rose to fame as a young girl. Did you know that she started making songs at the mere age of 13? Even though it sounds pretty unbelievable, it’s actually true.

As she grew more popular, Billie began to receive a lot of unwanted attention.  This undue attention limited the experiences she should have had at her age. She shared that not having a normal life in Hollywood makes her angry at times.

Mark-Paul Gosselaar’s popularity reached sky high as soon as Saved by the Bell began airing on television. He was just a teenager then.

Despite that fact, though, he wasn’t treated like a teen. Apparently, he was constantly reminded to act like an adult. He was told that he wasn’t a kid anymore for as long as he was on set. We now can realize why these child stars are highly mature for their age and get burned out so quickly!

Can you believe that Melissa Joan Hart began her acting career at the age of four?! The face of Clarissa Explains it All and Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Hart had a lot to deal with from a very young age.

When Hart’s mother asked co-star William Hurt to speak to her nine-year-old daughter in a way a child could understand, he replied, “No, if she wants to play with the big boys, she has to learn how to speak like the big boys.” According to Hart, “I get that he didn’t want to dumb it down for me […] but I was just trying to hold on to these conversations without knowing how to respond.” 

We all recognize Corey Feldman from all those ‘80s hit films including Stand by Me and The Goonies. Thanks to these projects, Feldman became a teen idol — but it came at a cost.

In recent years, Feldman has revealed that he — along with fellow child actor and best friend Corey Haim — were abused as young stars.

Alyson Stoner danced into our hearts during the early 2000s — Cheaper by the Dozen to Step Up and even Camp Rock, Stoner became a hugely popular child star. Now 28 years old, she has since spoken out about her experiences in Hollywood as a child star.

In a recent interview, Alyson shared that she faced abuse and child law violations while working as a child actor. At one point, she even developed an eating disorder as a result of the pressure.

Regina King is another actor who got an early start in the industry. She began playing as Brenda Jenkins in 227 at just 14 years old.

She has stated that life in Hollywood at such a young age wasn’t always easy. Luckily, King’s mother helped her daughter maintain a good balance between work and school life by sending her to public schools. According to the actress, meeting different people helped her tackle difficult situations in Hollywood.

Kirsten Dunst began her career in Hollywood at a young age. She was just 11 years old when she starred in Interview With the Vampire in 1994. Soon after, she played alongside Robin Williams in Jumanji.

However, she also had a quite tough time working as a child star in Hollywood. In fact, she recently shared that, because of Hollywood’s unhealthy environment and pressures, she suffered from depression throughout her 20s.

Natalie Portman was just 11 years old when Luc Besson cast her in the film Léon: The Professional. Her child celebrity status rose to prominence thanks to movies like Beautiful Girls and Heat.

However, she shared recently that working at such a young age in those roles subjected her to being objectified. She felt very insecure about her identity and work because of this. And so, these horrible experiences have made her reconsider many of her decisions.

Christy Carlson Romano is known for portraying Ren on Even Stevens and voicing the titular character of Kim Possible. Recently, she shared that working from a young age in Hollywood allowed her to earn millions. But, those millions were quickly spent.

Because she began earning from a young age, Romano thought she was set for life. It was only later that she realized work in Hollywood isn’t always consistent. She wasted most of her money because she knew little about managing her finances, and she had no guidance.

Let’s be real here — the  Harry Potter franchise is beloved by most. Although Daniel Radcliffe completely nailed his performance in each and every movie, what people don’t know is how hard the star had it in real life. He shared how the lack of privacy in Hollywood made him succumb to various horrible habits.

During a 2019 episode of The Off-Camera Show with director Sam Jones, Radcliffe opened up about his substance abuse. According to the actor, he used drinking as a way to forget the fact that he was constantly being watched. He revealed that it took “a few years and it took a couple of attempts” to curb his drinking habit.

Often regarded as one of the most successful child actors of the ’90s, Macaulay Culkin was just eight years old when he starred in Home Alone. Despite — or perhaps, due to the fact that he became a household name before he even hit teenagehood, Culkin grew up very quickly.

Thanks to the pressures of Hollywood, he made some really bad decisions during his younger years. During an interview with Esquire in 2020, the 41-year-old revealed that “I played with some fire, I guess is the best way to put it.”

It’s been quite some time since any of us have seen this star. Their name is Rivkah Reyes but you may better recognize them as Katie, a Horace Green Prep School student that becomes the bass guitar player of Dewey Finn’s band in School of Rock.

Now 29 years old, Rivkah revealed in an interview that classmates bullied them after the movie came out and that they became a “raging addict” from the age of 14 to 24.

Alisan Porter was just nine years old when she played the titular character in Curly Sue. However, she shared that acting at such a young age in Hollywood didn’t work out so well for her.

Because of the pressure thrust upon her at such a young age, she shared that she eventually fell under the trap of substance abuse. After years away from the spotlight, however, Porter got sober and won season 10 of The Voice.

Amanda Bynes entered the entertainment industry when she was just seven years old. From The Amanda Show to What I Like About You — and let’s not forget the plethora of films she has starred in — Bynes was one of the most beloved young stars of the 2000s.

However, the constant exposure and invasion of privacy soon made her succumb to substance abuse. During an interview in 2018, Bynes advised people who struggle with substance abuse should be really careful. According to the actress, her habits “made me a completely different person. I actually am a nice person. I would never feel, say or do any of the things that I did and said to the people I hurt on Twitter.”

Lindsay Lohan entered the entertainment industry at the age of three when she was signed to Ford Models. After appearing as a regular on a TV soap opera, Lohan’s career took off as she began landing starring roles in all sorts of films.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t long before Lohan had a series of run-ins with the law and spent time in rehab. During a 2019 interview with Variety, Lohan explained that she knows “that in my past I was young and irresponsible — but that’s what growing up is. You learn from your mistakes.”

Another star that made his way into Hollywood at a very young age is former teen heartthrob Aaron Carter. He shared that due to the mismanagement of his career in Hollywood, he went through a lot at a young age.

After his parents’ divorce in 2004, Carter became extremely depressed. “I couldn’t dwell on it. I couldn’t think about it too much. I kind of had to block it out. I started partying and getting into a lot of trouble.”

Hilary Duff is another child celeb who became a star at a young age when she landed the starring role in Lizzie McGuire. She shared that being constantly compared to her fellow actors made her super self-conscious of her weight.

During an interview with Byrdie, Duff said that she struggled with food around the ages of 18 and 19. She worried about portions and how much she was eating due to these unnecessary comparisons.

Elijah Wood was just nine years old when he first began auditioning. Before he landed the part of Frodo in The Lord of the Rings series, he dealt with a lot of harsh rejection and treatment.

He shared that directors and filmmakers were unnecessarily harsh towards him, which in turn, made him feel extremely vulnerable. He even revealed that he faced abuse throughout his career, and accused Hollywood of enabling other issues.

We’ve already talked about Corey Feldman and how he shared his horrible experiences in Hollywood. Feldman started his journey alongside Corey Haim.

They both became a household name after the release of their film The Lost Boys. Like Feldman, Haim opened up about the abuse he endured as a child actor. Because of the trauma, he fell victim to substance abuse at some point and sadly passed in 2010.

Anthony Edwards is an American actor and director most widely recognized for his portrayal of Dr. Mark Greene on the first eight seasons of ER — or perhaps his performance as Nick “Goose” Bradshaw in Top Gun.

It was before all this success, though, that Edwards learned about the harsh reality of Hollywood. According to an essay the star wrote on Medium, screenwriter/producer Gary Goddard befriended and assaulted him along with several of his friends “for years” beginning when they were 12 years old.

Best known for starring as Faith in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spin-off Angel, actress Eliza Dushku actually got her acting start when she was just 12 years old. It was during that time that Dushku was molested by stunt coordinator Joel Kramer while she was working on the set of True Lies.

According to the star, an adult friend of hers confronted Kramer, and that same day, Dushku was injured during a stunt, while Kramer was responsible for her safety. Kramer has denied the accusations.

Alex Winter rose to stardom as Bill S. Preston in Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure opposite Keanu Reeves. Before that, though, he started out in the industry as a child actor.

It was during this time that, like many other kid actors, Winter faced abuse. At some point, he not only grew disillusioned with the movie business but also became sick of the pressure — all whilst dealing with the trauma from his childhood assault.

Alison Arngrim got her start in television at the age of 12. She’s perhaps best known for her portrayal of Nellie Oleson on NBC’s Little House on the Prairie from 1974 to 1981.

Because of how she had to play her character on the show, Alison and her mental health were negatively affected. Fortunately, she was able to come out of the toxic circle and reinvent herself.

Actress Julianne Hough got her start in the industry back in the early 2000s. But, before that — amidst her parents’ divorce — she was sent to London with her brother to live and study with their dance coaches.

According to the 33-year-old, “While I was in London, I was abused, mentally, physically, everything.” She revealed that it got even worse when she “started hitting puberty, when I started becoming a woman and stopped being a little girl.”

Evan Rachel Wood was just 14 years old when she was cast in a very mature role in 13. She shared that coming from a small-town family, there was a lot of pressure on her to succeed.

She said that being a promising talented actor made it quite impossible for her to fail in her career, as a lot of people looked up to her. However, because of the toxic environment and lack of proper support, she started losing direction in her life and career. What’s more, she also suffered abuse as a teenager.

It’s no secret that pop star Britney Spears got her start in the industry as a little girl, thanks to The Mickey Mouse Club. In fact, she was just 12 years old when she appeared on the show alongside Justin Timberlake, Ryan Gosling, Christina Aguilera, and more.

However, her journey through the limelight wasn’t easy, as many of us have come to find out. She was subjected to a lot of humiliation and scrutiny, made worse by Hollywood and the media.

Samantha Geimer is widely known for her accusations against the film director. She was the first one to come forward to report the abuse against Roman Polanski. She was just an aspiring actress and model when she came to Hollywood.

However, she stated that her dreams and hopes got shattered when she was subjected to abuse at the age of 13. Even after coming out with her experience, she had to face the trauma over and over again in court and in the media.

Evan Henzi was a young actor working his way to Hollywood. However, before he could become a household name, he faced the bitter reality of the industry. He was just 11 years old when youth talent manager Marty Weiss abused him.

He felt so humiliated for what he had to go through that he blamed himself for everything for quite a long time. Later, he shared his experience in the documentary, An Open Secret.

We know Gabriel Byrne as that charismatic Irish actor. However, when he was starting his journey in Hollywood as a child actor, he didn’t have it easy.

Apparently, he too suffered abuse at the hands of some people that he thought highly of. He felt ashamed and didn’t realize the effects that these experiences would have on him. Because he wasn’t emotionally prepared, he masked many of these issues by drinking.

Michael Egan was another young actor who came to the industry in hopes of becoming a star. However, he recently shared how he had to pay the price while trying to make it in Hollywood.

He shared that on his way to stardom, he was actually abused by a Hollywood director, X-Men‘s Bryan Singer. Egan shared very crucial details about the abuse, which made his story very different from others. However, his allegations have not yet been proven.

Now 50 years old, Anthony Rapp originated the role of Mark Cohen in the Broadway production of Rent. He reprised it in the film adaptation. Today, he stars on Star Trek: Discover. Unfortunately, he too faced his fair share of abuse on his way to success.

In late October 2017, Rapp alleged in a Buzzfeed interview that actor Kevin Spacey made an unwanted advance toward him in 1986 — when Rapp was 14 and Spacey was 26.

Aly & A.J. — now known as 78violet — are a pop duo consisting of sisters Alyson and Amanda Michalka. However, many of you millennials may recognize Aly from Phil of the Future.

Between that and their overnight success as a musical duo, Aly & A.J. certainly felt the pressure, to say the least. Because of it, the sisters struggled with mental health issues. However, they were quick enough to get the help they needed, which made things easier for them later on.

Another Disney child star who started her career very young is Selena Gomez. When she starred in the show Barney & Friends, she was just nine years old. From there, her career only continued to skyrocket.

With shows and films like Wizards of Waverly Place and Another Cinderella Story, she became a household name everywhere. However, she also shared how the Hollywood pressures had made her feel vulnerable from a very young age. She shared that she even made some mistakes early in her life because of these pressures.