KJ Apa Says His Eating Disorder Got So Bad He’d Urinate on His Own Food to Stop Himself, Then Eat Around It When the Hunger Came Back

The Riverdale star described a stretch he calls six years “of just awful,” where anything that made him feel good he’d abuse, food included. He says he’d binge, purge, then go back for what he’d ruined.

KJ Apa says he ordered three Big Macs, a pile of McNuggets, fries and a milkshake at 2 a.m. during a Covid quarantine, ate half, and was hit with instant regret.

He was trying to lose weight before going back to work, and he says that mindset flips a switch in him. “When I’m on a vibe of I’m trying to get into shape, I’m like beast mode. I’m like obsessed about it,” he said. “Which then also makes me do crazy shit.”

To keep himself from eating the rest, he took it outside and urinated on it, then threw up everything he’d already eaten. About 20 minutes later the hunger came back. He went back out, found the food where he’d left it, and started eating around the part he’d soaked.

“I ate the rest of the food and left the soaking piss food there,” he said. “I could have just ordered more food, but I needed to have it right now.”

Apa, who’s 28 and starred as Archie on Riverdale, tied it to a longer pattern he’s been open about. He says he’s been sober a year and a half, and that his relationship with eating was at its worst while he was working on the show. “Anything that makes me feel good, I will abuse,” he said. “It’s something that I’ve learned about myself.”

Like what you read? Follow Thought Catalog on Facebook, and check out more on our website.