Heather Morris has opened up about how her late Glee co-star Naya Rivera helped her while she was developing an eating disorder.
Morris played cheerleader Brittany S Pierce in the musical sitcom, alongside Naya Rivera’s Santana Lopez.
In a recent interview, Morris spoke out about her time on the Glee tour in 2010 and how she was starting to have issues with food.
“I had developed an eating disorder. I stopped getting my period. I was so in my head about food and what it was doing for me,” Morris told her former Glee co-stars, Jenna Ushkowitz and Kevin McHale on their podcast And That’s What You Really Missed.
“I was in a really bad place, I just didn’t know it yet.”
According to Morris, 35, Rivera followed her into her dressing room to confront her on one occasion during the 2010 tour. While their characters on the show were romantically linked, the two actors shared a close, real-life friendship.
“I can’t remember exactly what she was saying, but she was approaching me about my eating disorder because I know she herself had eating disorders, and she was very open about it in her book,” Morris continued.
“So she of course was the first to speak up about it.”
While Morris admitted to realising that Rivera was trying to help, she “blew it off”, telling Rivera that she was okay, and allegedly never spoke about her eating disorder with the co-star again.
“That’s who she was,” Morris said. “She was just always ready to talk about it.”
Rivera died in a tragic boating accident in July 2020, aged 33. The actor went missing from a rented pontoon boat on the California lake, where she was swimming with her then four-year-old son Josey.
After Rivera’s death, Morris wrote on Instagram: “The utmost important lesson I learned most of all from you was being a consistent and loving friend. You were the first to check in, the first to ask questions, the first to listen. You cherished our friendship and I never took that for granted."
“We started out as the closest friends and then like all new things, we went through a bit of a rocky phase,” the post said. “However, we stuck by each other’s side and created the most beautiful friendship built out of love and understanding.”
For anyone struggling with the issues raised in this piece, eating disorder charity Beat’s helpline is available 365 days a year on 0808 801 0677. You can visit their website here.
NCFED offers information, resources and counselling for those suffering from eating disorders, as well as their support networks. They can be reached by phone on 845 838 2040 or their website here.
