TikTok Star Alix Earle Says She Received The 'Opposite' Reaction To 'Toxic' Disclosure

TikTok star Alix Earle recently broke her silence on her "toxic" relationship with food, admitting that she strived to be "paper thin" when she was in high school.

Now, however, the social media sensation, is opening up on the response that she received to her video, saying that it was the "opposite" of what she had expected.

Alix Earle is getting candid with her fans in a whole new way. Although she has been vocal about her struggles with acne and has confessed that she has even been thinking about getting breast augmentation surgery, the TikTok star recently launched a podcast where she admitted that she used to have a "toxic" relationship with food and would get extremely "stressed" counting every calorie that she put in her body.

At Heidi Klum's 22nd annual Halloween party on Tuesday night, the popular influencer was asked by Page Six about her fans' reaction to her recent confession.  “Before ever opening up online I was really scared that the response would be negative and it’s honestly just been the opposite,” the 22-year-old said. “It’s been super positive and I think I found a great community through it."

“It’s also super therapeutic for me to find other people who struggle with the same issues so I would encourage people to open up online about whatever it is they’re going through,” she said. “Because you never know how many people you’re going to impact with that.” However, she went on to admit that sharing her life with the public is a "personal choice."

She said that individuals should share "whatever [they are] comfortable with," adding, “I tend to share almost everything with my audience. I have a really close relationship with them but I definitely don’t think that’s for everyone and it’s definitely up to you.”

In the third episode of her podcast, Hot Mess With Alix Earle, the TikTok star admitted that her “younger” self had an “obsession” with being “paper thin” when she was in high school.

“This is something very personal and that I haven’t really talked about online before,” she said in comments transcribed by the Daily Mail. She said that she “wasn’t confident” with her appearance due to struggles with acne and that extreme dieting became “normalized” when she was in high school.

“I was so obsessed with this dieting culture, I just went down such a bad path with myself, and my body, and my image,” she recalled, explaining that both she and her friends would skip lunch to try to lose weight.

“I started to have this body dysmorphia, I would look in the mirror and see someone way bigger, and I was never happy with the person I saw in the mirror,” she continued, adding that she “would get so stressed out” if she felt that her calorie intake was “too high.”

She went on to say that most of her disordered eating practices “went away” when she got to college and met friends who helped her relationship with food. “It’s been hard for me to comprehend it myself and I’ve only told it to a handful of people in my life,” she said, adding, “I knew I needed to stop and I did.”

In the comments of her YouTube video, many fans thanked her for being “real” and opening up about her desire to be “paper thin” with others. “I love that you were so open to talk about this. A lot of people online subconsciously expect influencers to be ‘picture perfect’ and always on point, but want them to be ‘relatable’ yet when some influencers do open up and talk about these types of more heavy topics….everyone online is like ‘they’re trying to be relatable’ and sometimes laugh at these influencers,” one fan commented.

“You’re one of the only influencers out there who is aware of the power you have, you’re aware of the opportunities that it has brought you but…..you don’t let any of that define who you are and you just live your life while also trying to let people know who you truly are behind all the glitz and glamour,” they continued. “As someone who struggles with body image issues, and who almost developed an eating disorder in high school….thank you for sharing your story.”