ABC/AdamTaylorRumer Willis may be basking in the afterglow of her triumphant season on Dancing with the Stars, but there was a time when she was less than adored by her peers.
“I was constantly bullied because of my looks, so I struggled a lot with my body image,” she reveals in an essay for Glamour. “I wanted to have no butt; I wanted to have no boobs. For a long time I just wanted to look tiny and androgynous.”
Willis said she never discussed what was going on with her parents, as it was too painful to share. However, her mom, Demi Moore, gave her fantastic advice.
“I do remember my mom telling me, ‘There’s always going to be someone who’s a better singer. There’s always going to be someone more fit. There’s always someone who’s going to be, in your mind, better than you — who you’re comparing yourself to,” said the 26-year-old actress. “’But you can’t do that, because you will live such an unhappy life.’ It just took me a long time to put that advice into practice.”
Willis took this advice to heart, starting her essay with a quote: “Comparison is the thief of joy.”
“I read that quote the other day, and it is so true,” she said.
Willis said it’s harder for girls with the advent of social media, and the bullying is still going on even after she was on DWTS. “After the show started, I had to block almost 10 people every day on social media because they wouldn’t leave me alone,” she said.
“Strangers say the nastiest things,” she shared. “Until recently the thought of making one misstep that could be criticized would stop me from trying new things and from standing up for myself.”
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