Photo: Instagram
She's doing better these days.
By Amy Lamare — Written on Jun 07, 2019
Things are getting real on the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. Lisa Rinna's 17-year-old daughter opened up about her struggle with anorexia on the Tuesday, June 4th episode of the popular Bravo series. Amelia Hamlin took to Instagram to further explain where she's coming from with her eating disorder, her relationship with her parents and more. In a way, Amelia was explaining what viewers would see on the show before it aired. Was she behaving badly? Was she being a typical teenager? Who is Lisa Rinna's daughter?
1. Her Insta story
Before the Tuesday, June 4 episode of the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills aired, Amelia Gray Hamlin took to her IG to share some thoughts. “Tonight on the housewives you will see how my eating disorder affected myself and my family. There is a scene where I am EXTREMELY rude to my dad and the food he wants me to eat, she said in reference to a scene during which she flipped off her dad, actor Harry Hamlin. She went on to say: “During that time, one year ago — I was not in a good place at all. I may have looked like I was recovered, but I was most definitely not. Within the scene you will see me lashing out due to my fear of food. The person displayed in tonight’s episode is not the person I am. It was the person anorexia made me.”
2. What happened that night?
In scenes from this week's episode, Amelia, her 20-year-old sister Delilah Belle and their parents are sitting around the dinner table for a meal of salad, hamburgers and hot dogs. Amelia said to her father: "I'm not hungry." Rinna said: "You guys have to eat a little bit for dad." Amelia said she wasn't hungry again and that she is "allergic to everything." She then lashed out at Harry Hamlin and flipped him off. She asked her fans to be kind and reminded them that she was recovering from a serious eating disorder.
3. The trolls came for her anyway
Since the internet is basically a new layer of hell, the trolls came for the model anyway. They slammed her for how she behaved in the episode that, though it only aired this week, was filmed last year. They also came for her mom. Amelia had Lisa Rinna's back though and wrote: Sorry but I have the best mom in the whole entire world!! Stop being so jealous! Hahaha!" Other commenters pointed out that she "doesn't look anorexic," which gave her the opportunity to explain her eating disorder to her followers. She shared a photo of her looking scary thin and another one of her a bit fuller and wrote: “Sadly — I feel the need to remind people what anorexia looks like. And there is not just one type. In both photos I was struggling equally as much as the other. Please understand the illness before speaking on it.”
4. Mom's take
Lisa Rinna appeared in a confessional during the June 4 episode and talked about how she wants to take Amelia's pain away. “I don’t want to see her suffer. You want to fix it. You can’t help but blame yourself. You know, it’s like, ‘What did we do to f–k her up?’ Maybe we did something. I don’t know. I just know that it’s really, really hard to watch Amelia be in pain,” Rinna said.
5. Amelia's in a better place now
Amelia is in a better place with her eating disorder now that she was last year. She said: “It’s so hard for me to witness the way I used to act. I was so blind to how trapped I was, and how different I acted,” she continued. “It’s not easy having to relive these moments but I’m just hoping this experience will make me stronger and appreciate how amazing it truly feels to be 100% RECOVERED AND HAPPY!!!! Also!!!! Hamburgers are a weekly occurrence in my diet now — Incase anyone was wondering."
Amy Lamare is a Los Angeles based freelance writer covering entertainment, pop culture, beauty, fashion, fitness, technology, and the intersection of technology, business, and philanthropy. She is deeply devoted to her chocolate Labrador and an avid long distance runner. You can find her on Instagram and Facebook.