Snooki Talks Anorexia Battle in High School, Starving Herself for Cheerleading Squad

Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi is all about healthy living these days, but back in high school, she suffered from anorexia.

The "Dancing With the Stars" competitor, now 25, opened up about her teenage eating disorder--and how cheerleading was partially to blame--in a behind-the-scenes clip from the Monday, Oct. 8 show.

"Cheerleading was my life in high school but it wasn't always easy for me," she said. The former "Jersey Shore" star loved being a flyer (the person lifted up and thrown in stunts), and she didn't want to be replaced by the younger, lighter cheerleaders joining the squad.

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"There were these little girls coming up, like freshmen, who were literally, like, 70 pounds," she said. "And I was, like, my spot as a flyer is going to get taken away. So I ended up starving myself."

"I started eating one salad a day, and then it became, like, one cracker a day, and then it became just one grape a day," she recalled. "And then...just not eating at all for three days. It was a really, really bad time for me."

Fortunately, Snooki's eating disorder is now a thing of the past. But because she "went through a dark time in high school with cheerleading," she used her "Dancing With the Stars" performance "to make new positive memories" of the sport. Dressed in their own cheerleading ensembles, she and partner Sasha Farber did the jive, earning an "8" from all three judges.

Cheers to a great score and a healthy body image!

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