Joanna Gaines On Battle With Insecurity After Childhood Bullying Over Korean Heritage

TV presenter, Joanna Gaines, opened up on a "deeply personal" part of her life that she'd never discussed in public. Looking back on how far she's come in her career, the interior designer is very proud of her Korean heritage and legacy.

In a recent interview, Gaines revealed that she struggled with insecurity while growing up as people bullied her for having a Korean heritage. The writer, whose father and mother are American and Korean, respectively, was one of only three Asians in her whole school.

She also started to hide that part of herself to fit in. When she moved out of her small village and saw people like her, she said she began to feel better about herself. Her upcoming memoir, "The Stories We Tell," will premiere on November 8th. 

Keep reading to find out more.

Gaines recalled her experience in an interview with People. The 44-year-old grew up and schooled with her sisters Mary Kay and Teresa in Rose Hill, a small town in Kansas. Things were difficult for her as they were the only Asians in their "entire school," and their schoolmates teased them because of this.

She revealed that they called her names and bullied her whenever she had rice for lunch in the school cafeteria. While recalling the experiences, the author noted that it was a "deeply personal" thing to share.

The "Stories We Tell" author also recalled hiding the Korean part of herself to fit in with the rest of the students. Gaines said, "I realized if this isn't accepted, maybe I need to hide it and play more into the other side of who I am."

Looking back, the "Homebody" writer noted that she remembered this part of her childhood more than anything else. She also recalled handling the bullying alone by changing her personality to get validation from her mates.

Gaines said via People, "My early memories, a lot of the things that come up are the moments where I switched off and I thought to myself, 'Oh, I can't be this,' or 'I shouldn't be this' or this won't be approved." She said she was ready to change anything "as a kid" to get the "approval" she wanted.

The star hated facing this alone since she would have made better choices if she had someone to talk to. "I just internally processed all by myself," she said. However, it wasn't healthy for her as she ended up "just shoving it somewhere."

Gaines explained that it eventually made her very insecure and said that it took "years for me to wrestle with that." After leaving her town for a New York internship, Gaines met other people like her and felt better about herself.

The "Magnolia" author couldn't believe her eyes when she got to the college internship. "I saw more people that looked like me than ever before," she explained. Gaines gained a new perspective on life as the "Fixer Upper" star appreciated her culture more than ever.

She said per People, "really understanding the beauty and uniqueness of Korean culture." The writer explained, "For the first time I felt whole, like this is fully who I am and I'm proud of it." While she felt better, she still had to deal with the insecurities that followed her from her experiences over the years.

"There were a lot of things I believed that weren't true," she noted. Gaines recalled reassuring herself by "crossing out" the wrong things she believed. She then motivated herself by saying, "'You are worthy. You are enough.'" "My biggest regret is not owning it earlier and really loving who I am."

The star said she "went backwards" to "rewrite" the lies she believed in her first solo memoir "The Stories We Tell," which releases next week. Gaines explained that she felt powerful enough to take control of her story and write something about it for people to learn.

She said, "There's so much healing that can come from that." Gaines also explained that the memoir also made her feel more accomplished and proud of herself. She noted that she wouldn't have gained as much "empathy, perspective, and clarity," if she hadn't written the book.