Celebrity News

Couric admits bulimia battle

Katie Couric admits she battled with bulimia in her early 20s on a TV special about eating disorders, Page Six has exclusively learned.

We’re told that Couric makes the emotional confession today on her daytime show, on which she interviews new “X Factor” judge Demi Lovato, who sought treatment for “emotional and physical issues” including eating disorders in late 2010.

Couric says on her show, “I wrestled with bulimia all through college and for two years after that. And I know this rigidity, this feeling that if you eat one thing that’s wrong, you’re full of self-loathing and then you punish yourself, whether it’s one cookie or a stick of gum that isn’t sugarless, that I would sometimes beat myself up for that.

“How do you have a healthy relationship with food, and say, “You know what, I can have one cookie and it’s OK?” That is such a huge thing for people who wrestle with this.”

Couric, 55, suffered from bulimia between the ages of 18 and 24, while she was at the University of Virginia, and as she started her TV career at the ABC News bureau in DC.

Sources tell us she was eventually able to beat the eating disorder with the help of a therapist and personal research into the lasting medical damage purging does to the body. It is estimated that 8 million people are suffering from an eating disorder.

We’re told that Couric has since maintained a healthy weight through diet and exercise, and is a huge fan of spin studio Flywheel, where she has been spotted working out daily ahead of the debut of her new show.

Most of the show is devoted to Lovato, 20, who has opened up about her battles with eating disorders and cutting. She told Seventeen last year about the events leading up to her seeking treatment, “I basically had a nervous breakdown. I was really bad off, My parents and my manager pulled me aside and said, ‘You need to get some help.’ ”