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Alec Baldwin’s Wife Reveals Devastating Extent of 20-Year Eating Disorder

“I don’t want to live this way,” she recalled thinking. “I’m miserable.”

Tamilore OshikanluContributor

PublishedJul 29, 2026, 5:04 PM EDT

UpdatedJul 29, 2026, 5:10 PM EDT

Updated Jul 29, 2026, 5:10 PM EDTPublished Jul 29, 2026, 5:04 PM EDT

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Alec Baldwin’s wife Hilaria Baldwin has opened up about the eating disorder that controlled her life for two decades.

The 42-year-old yoga instructor said Tuesday that her struggles began when she started dieting at just five years old, which eventually spiraled into periods of anorexia, bulimia, overeating, and undereating.

“I had a really bad eating disorder for 20 years, and I really struggled with it,” Baldwin said during an interview with SiriusXM’s Page Six Radio. “I did all of it.”

Baldwin, who shares seven children with actor Alec Baldwin, 68, said years of restricting and obsessing over food had disconnected her from her body’s most basic signals.

“I realized that I just didn’t know when I was hungry and when I was full,” she said.

The former Dancing With the Stars contestant said her recovery began when she learned to identify those cues, choose foods that made her feel good, and stop treating certain foods as frightening or forbidden.

Two nights before the interview, Baldwin said, she and her youngest child opened pints of Häagen-Dazs vanilla almond and Oreo cookie ice cream at 9 p.m. and ate directly from both containers.

“Not being afraid of things, but again, eating an amount that feels like your body can manage,” she said.

That flexibility once seemed impossible. Baldwin said the disorder made ordinary social experiences so stressful that she struggled to maintain relationships or eat dinner with other people.

“I don’t want to live this way,” she recalled thinking. “I’m miserable. I can’t have good relationships. I can’t have good friendships. I can’t eat out to dinner with people.”

At its worst, she said, her fixation became so extreme that she wondered how many calories might be in toothpaste.

Baldwin said she became determined to recover before having children because she feared passing her behavior down to them.

“I didn’t want to pass my s--t down,” she said.

Now, Baldwin said she tries to teach her children about strength, how food makes them feel, and balance rather than shame. That includes allowing treats such as Cheetos instead of turning them into forbidden objects that become more appealing.

“Feed yourself with most of the good things,” she said. “Open up a pint of ice cream sometimes and take out a spoon.”

Baldwin said her body changed repeatedly through pregnancy and postpartum recovery, but she had already done much of the psychological work needed to quiet the obsessive thoughts.

The reality star also credited consistency with helping her maintain a healthier relationship with exercise.

“I like consistency; it’s good for my mind,” she said, comparing daily movement to brushing one’s teeth and noting that she had gone for a 30-minute run that morning.

She first publicly discussed her eating disorder in her 2016 memoir, The Living Clearly Method.

In a 2018 Instagram post promoting a partnership with Aerie and the National Eating Disorders Association, Baldwin wrote that yoga, health, and wellness helped heal her body and mind.

She later explained on her Instagram story that recovery required shifting her attention away from weight and appearance.

“When I started focusing on health, my obsession with weight went away,” she wrote at the time. “They should not be confused.”

If you or a loved one is struggling with disordered eating, please reach out to the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) at nationaleatingdisorders.org.

Tamilore OshikanluContributor

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