'Scandal' Actress Portia De Rossi Talks About Past Struggles With Eating Disorders In 'It Got Better'

After undergoing years of pain and struggle to accept her body image, “Scandal” actress Portia de Rossi is now bravely talking about her troubled past. In a new online documentary series titled “It Got Better,” the 42-year-old actress talks about past struggles with eating disorders -- and how she once went without food for 10 days.

The actress started a modeling career when she was just 12 and felt a “tremendous responsibility” to look good on the ramp. The Australian beauty says her agents would ask her to go on a diet, but she often went to extreme lengths to follow the instructions. She said she once went without food for 10 days so she would look good on the catwalk.

The actress was even bullied by fellow models over her looks. "I'm up on this catwalk, and I'm a little kid and posing and trying to be sexy and strutting around and all the other models are making fun of my bushy eyebrows," de Rossi told ET Online.

The actress goes on to describe her state of mind: "When I got in the car after that event and just opened up a bag of my favorite candy and just put my whole head in it and I think, 'S---, what have I done? I just undid two weeks' worth of dieting,'" she said, adding that she then vomited.

The partner of talk-show hostess Ellen DeGeneres further explained what it felt like to be bulimic. De Rossi says she would “erase the feelings with food” and “erase the food with vomiting” but would still end up feeling ashamed of herself. Looking back, she says that was “just horrible.” She also gets emotional just thinking about her past struggle with bulimia.

Bulimia is an eating disorder where a person first satisfies his or her hunger by eating -- then immediately vomits, resulting in weight loss in an unhealthy way. The full episode of “It Got Better” will be available Wednesday at www.lstudio.com/it-got-better/.

For any questions/comments on the article, contact the writer at: n.tewari@ibtimes.com.au