Joanna Gaines struggled with insecurity while growing up as people bullied her for having a Korean heritage as a child.

The writer and her sisters, whose father and mother are American and Korean, respectively, were the only Asians in her school.

Her schoolmates bullied her for this, called her names, and teased her for eating rice in the cafeteria.

She recalled hiding the Korean part of herself and changing her personality to fit into the rest of the students.

The star hated facing the bullying alone, as she would have made better choices if she had someone to talk to.

She felt better about herself when she moved from her small town in Kansas to NYC and saw people like her.

Gaines explained that she began to appreciate her culture more than ever and was proud of herself.

She had to motivate herself and address the insecurities that came from her past experiences.

She wrote about this in her upcoming first solo memoir, “The Stories We Tell,” which premieres on November 8th.