Evancho says that her battle with the eating disorder is still a work in progress and that she is working to reverse osteoporosis.
Jackie Evancho was just 10 years old when her powerful, angelic voice carried her all the way to the finals of “America's Got Talent.”
But now, at age 22, the young singer is revealing a heartbreaking secret: she has anorexia.
“It started with me wanting to lose baby fat. I decreased calories and increased exercise. At one point, I was going days without eating,” Evancho tells Inside Edition.
Then, last year, Evancho was in a serious car accident and broke her spine in two places.
“The doctor said that the types of breaks I had were not normal,” Evancho said.
Because she had deprived her body of proper nutrition, Evancho developed osteoporosis — a disease that most commonly afflicts women 50 years older than her.
“We never think about a person in their early twenties as having osteoporosis, however it can occur in people of all genders who have anorexia nervosa, starting at a really young age,” Dr. Jennifer L. Gaudiani said.
Evancho says that her battle with the eating disorder is still a work in progress and that she is working to reverse her osteoporosis.
“The key and the difference now is that I actually really do not want to live like this anymore,” Evancho said.
She’s returning to the spotlight with a new album, which includes a cover of the Joni Mitchell classic, “Both Sides Now.”
