You wouldn’t know it to look at her now, but Olivia Culpo had a difficult time growing up as the self-proclaimed “ugly duckling” of her family.
The 28-year-old, who has graced the pages of Sports Illustrated, been crowned Miss Universe, and walked countless red carpets as one of the most beautiful women in the world, opened up this week in a new interview about her childhood. And to hear her tell it, Olivia has come a long, long way from what was a tough situation growing up feeling like the outcast in her own family.
Related: Olivia (Rightfully) Keeps Cheating BF’s Birthday Gift All To Herself!
The Rhode Island native shed light on her past during an appearance on the Emergency Contact podcast alongside her sister, Aurora Culpo. The pair was interviewed about their childhood and upbringing by hosts Simon Huck and Melissa Gray Washington, who were both shocked to learn the degree to which Olivia saw herself as the outsider as a child.
Admitting she compared herself to her “beautiful” siblings and parents far too often as a child, the now-famous social media influencer and fashion personality recalled (below):
“Honestly growing up I felt really ugly which is a terrible thing to say. I was really different looking. My older sister looked like the Barbie doll. I was overweight. I was the ugly duckling. I had to look myself in the mirror and say, ‘Okay, you’re different,’ because I was.”
Wow… That’s too much pressure and negativity for a little girl to be putting on herself at that age.
To add to it, Olivia and Aurora both recalled how their dad, Peter Culpo, put Olivia on a diet at just 10 years old! The star recalled that formative moment:
“Our dad is amazing but our dad is like, Type A and has run over a dozen marathons. When I was 10 years old, yeah, I was put on those diets and I kind of realized, when you put in the work you get the results. It kind of all started from there.”
Intense!!!
Related: Wow! Demi Lovato Is NOT Crazy About Olivia Culpo…
Innerestingly though, Aurora defended the decision, too. She acknowledged how those early struggles ultimately paid off with where her famous sis is now:
“[Olivia] knew that she was overweight, so I think that she developed a skill for situating herself in situations where she would get the most attention. And then she got hot and she had that skill. That’s how you get on Sports Illustrated.”
That’s one way of looking at it, we suppose… Still, all of this learned behavior can lead to depression and disordered eating as an adult, something which Olivia has touched on before. Might not be 100% the cause, but we can’t help but to think this fatherly strictness left a lasting impact, good and bad.
What do U think, Perezcious readers?
We LOVE parents who teach their kids about having a work ethic and putting in effort to get results at an early age, but putting a little girl on a diet before she even becomes a teenager?! Jeez!! That’s too intense.
Sound OFF about it with your take down in the comments (below)…
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