Kyle Richards Reveals She Was Anorexic at 17

Kyle Richards is opening up for the first time about her struggles with anorexia.

In a preview of Tuesday's episode of "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills," Lisa Rinna is seen telling her co-stars about daughter Amelia Hamlin's struggles with an eating disorder when Kyle reluctantly decides to reveal a secret she had been keeping for years.

"I feel really weird even saying this now because I've never, ever talked about this, not even to my daughters, which is why I'm staying quiet because I feel weird," Kyle began. "When I was younger, I had my own problems, but I never wanted to say it because I had my daughters, and I never even wanted that in their head."

"It started when I was 17," she continued. "I was on a TV show, and I didn't like -- they kept putting me in these big things, and my boobs were big when I was young. And it was like, my sisters were tiny and cute. Everybody was blonde, blue-eyed and skinny. I said, 'I don't like my wardrobe.' And they said, 'Well, lose some weight, and we'll put you in cute wardrobe.'"

Solemnly, Erika Jayne noted, "Yeah, and then you started doing that." Teddi Mellencamp, a fitness and health expert who's had her own issues with weight, added, "And then you'd get rewarded for it."

"People would compliment me, and the more they complimented me, the less I would eat," Kyle said before going into detail about her restrictive eating habits. "I would take V8 juice and put it in a bowl and heat it up, and that was my food. I was 99 lbs. I was like that for years. I mean, I remember times when I'd say, 'I'm only gonna have six almonds today. That's all. That's what I'm gonna have.'"

"All day?!" a shocked Dorit Kemsley asked.

"When I was growing up, and my sisters were so skinny and all the models were, that's what triggered all of that," Kyle explained. "But I was very self-conscious."

During a later confessional, Kyle revealed that it was Amelia bravely opening up about her anorexia that inspired her to do the same.

"I can't just pretend that I don't know what that feels like," she said. "So, guess what? I had an eating disorder when I was younger."

"The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. on Bravo.

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