Chrissy Metz says fans confide in her about their eating disorders

Chrissy Metz will miss "crying in bathrooms" with other women when 'This Is Us' ends.

The 41-year-old actress admitted it has been "special" to see how people relate to the struggles of her character, Kate Pearson, and she feels honoured that so many feel they can open up to her about their own issues as a result.

She told Us Weekly magazine: “What I will miss most about Kate is that I think so many people, not even just women, relate to her and her walking imperfectly through her trials and tribulations and all the shame and guilt that she’s carried for so long.

“It’s really sort of like a torch that she’s carrying, and I think that’s a really special thing to meet people that I’ve never met before and be able to cry in bathrooms with them about what they’re going through.”

Kate has struggled with her weight and issues around food throughout the show's run, and Chrissy admitted she is "eternally grateful" that people view her as someone they can confide in with their eating disorder issues because they relate so much to her alter ego.

She said: "“So many women have shared their experiences, and I will never forget one of the first people to come up to me in New York City.

“Justin [Hartley] and I were out to dinner, and I look at her and she looks, like, just so in shape and, well, just beautiful, glowing, and she’s like, ‘You don’t understand. I have a massive eating disorder, and I didn’t even understand what it is that I was going through. And then to see Kate going through it.’

"Two women that I would never think that we’d have anything in common were more alike than we were different, and it was so special. I was like, ‘Oh, this is not just a TV show.’...

"A little boy approached me and he had an eating disorder, and at 10 years old. And for him to relate to a thirtysomething-year-old woman on TV, it’s so special.

“I am just eternally grateful for this experience.”

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