Chrissy Metz Reflects On Childhood Trauma And Abuse At The Hands Of Her Stepfather

The "This is Us" actor said she felt "singled out" by her stepfather because of her weight: "He would weigh me in the kitchen or threaten to lock the cupboards."

Chrissy Metz isn’t holding back with regard to “mental, physical, emotional abuse” she received at the hands of her stepfather, who she believes singled her out from her four siblings because of her weight.

Appearing on Tuesday’s episode of “The Jamie Kern Lima Show,” Metz said she felt as though she was living under “a magnifying glass” around her stepfather, noting: “He would weigh me in the kitchen or threaten to lock the cupboards.”

“It still affects the way I walk into a room. It’s my desire to be a people pleaser and a peacemaker,” the “This Is Us” actor recalled. “Why does my weight equate my worthiness? Or why does it bother him so much? Or what is he projecting onto me? What is that? And as a 12-year-old kid, it’s like, how do you reconcile that in your mind?”

Since then, Metz has worked through some of her trauma in therapy, which has enabled her to forgive her mother, who she says “was struggling for many, many years,” and has given her a more empathetic outlook on her stepfather’s actions.

“Now as an adult, I’m like, OK, maybe he actually loved me, didn’t know how to express it, and did it in such a difficult way that he thought he was being helpful,” she said. “He doesn’t want me to be unhealthy. He doesn’t want me to be a certain way. But also hurt people hurt people. And he was, I think, very hurt by his own father.”