{"id":84348,"date":"2013-01-21T16:52:18","date_gmt":"2013-01-21T21:52:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/?p=84348"},"modified":"2013-01-21T16:57:54","modified_gmt":"2013-01-21T21:57:54","slug":"american-idol-mariah-pulice-reveals-her-struggles-with-anorexia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/01\/american-idol-mariah-pulice-reveals-her-struggles-with-anorexia\/","title":{"rendered":"American Idol’s Mariah Pulice Reveals Her Struggles With Anorexia"},"content":{"rendered":"

As American Idol kicked off its twelfth season, the judges rolled into Chicago to hear auditions. One contestant in particular got attention for her voice, but perhaps more for the struggles she had gone through just to be standing there. Mariah Pulice admitted to America that she was in the early stages of recovery from anorexia<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Anorexia is an eating disorder<\/a><\/strong> that affects nearly 24 million men and women in the United States, according to the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders Inc. (ANAD). Pulice falls into the most common gender and age group to struggle with the disorder – teenaged females.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Pulice admitted on last Thursday\u2019s episode that her struggles with eating began in junior high school, saying, \u201cI felt a lot bigger than the other girls.\u201d These feeling progressed and Pulice said by high school she recalled only eating a single slice of American cheese each day. For reference, that\u2019s only about 100 calories and maybe five grams of protein. The fact that Pulice was telling this story was impressive, considering how dangerously she was treating her body.<\/p>\n

Pulice said she sought help in rehab after admitting that \u201canorexia engulfed everything in my life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Music was given credit for helping Pulice work through her struggles with eating. In fact, she credits music with saving her life. As Pulice entered the judges room in Chicago, she first connected with Mariah Carey as they both have the same name. Then she began telling them her story, telling all the judges that her fight isn\u2019t over as she said her recovery is an \u201ceveryday battle.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pulice made it through her emotional rendition of the Beatles, \u201cLet It Be,\u201d while the judges became emotional themselves. Mariah Carey<\/a><\/strong> had to wipe tears away as Pulice sang. Pulice was fortunate enough to get the \u201cyes\u201d votes and move on to the next round.<\/p>\n

She celebrated with her support team comprised mostly of family and told the camera that this experience made her feel something rare.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel beautiful for the first time in so long,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Twitter also lit up with support for Pulice as they wanted her to know they were proud of her too.<\/p>\n

Shout out to @mariah_pulice<\/a>.. awesome and touching stuff on American Idol. #respect<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Nick Radenkovich (@NickRadenkovich) January 18, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

S\/O to Mariah Pulice for putting her story out there. She’s a beacon of hope for someone.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Camille Alexandria (@HearttDonor) January 18, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Hopefully Pulice can serve as a model for how much better life can be after seeking and receiving treatment for an eating disorder. ANAD states that only 1 in 10 people with an eating disorder seek help. Let Mariah Pulice\u2019s story be the start of positive change in those statistics.<\/p>\n

Also Read:<\/strong><\/p>\n

How to Recognize Signs of an Eating Disorder<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Biggest Loser Teen Contestants Will Never Step on a Scale<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

CeeLo Green Signs Endorsement Deal with eDiets<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As American Idol kicked off its twelfth season, the judges rolled into Chicago to hear auditions. One contestant in particular got attention for her voice, but perhaps more for the struggles she had gone through just to be standing there. … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1367,3695,58],"tags":[8146,333,971,3769,247,3713],"class_list":["post-84348","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-childrens-health","category-diet-and-nutrition","category-womens-health","tag-american-idol","tag-anorexia","tag-eating-disorders","tag-mariah-carey","tag-music","tag-teen-health"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84348","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/37"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=84348"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84348\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":84351,"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84348\/revisions\/84351"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84348"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=84348"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=84348"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}