Donna D’Errico, 54, recalls reporter mocking her stretch marks during 'Baywatch': 'I ended the interview and quickly ran off in tears'
Donna D’Errico is opening up about the hurtful comments she received about her body by online trolls.
The Baywatch alum, 54, spoke to Fox News Digital this week about what inspired her to post an Instagram photo of herself in a bikini, along with a message to the haters that read, “Quite a few women complained about the 4th of July video I posted in a red white & blue bikini because they thought I was ‘classier than that’ and ‘too old to wear a bikini’ and, my favorite, ‘desperate’. Let me tell you something that might surprise you. I can actually wear and do literally whatever I want.”
As D’Errico explained to the website, “Once upon a time I used to allow what others thought of me to really bother me and even dictate my actions." The others, she explained, were mostly women. "Strangers in public or haters online, so many women just seem to love tearing other women down. It affected me pretty badly over time. No matter how great I felt about how I looked when I left the house, if I got photographed while out I’d be absolutely torn to shreds by mostly women making fun of everything about me in online comments," she said.
D’Errico said comments included criticisms of everything from her feet to her hands to her stretch marks, as well as comparisons to other actresses.
The star said she didn’t just receive these hateful comments online. She recalled a time on the Baywatch set when a female reporter asked her what was on her legs, knowing that they were stretch marks.
"I awkwardly looked around and then down at the ground and quietly said, ‘Stretch marks.’ Then the female reporter said, ‘Did you say stretch marks?’ And I saw the camera again aim down at my legs,” she explained. “I thought I was going to vomit. I looked up at the female reporter, and she was grinning. I ended the interview and quickly ran off in tears. I still remember that to this day. Women are just mean."
While she said she still takes things “personally” sometimes, she has learned to turn away from the hate.
"Life is shorter than you realize and there will always be someone with something rotten to say so just go have fun and don’t hurt anyone and do stuff that makes you happy," she said. "I am so blown away by all the supportive comments on my post on Instagram. It seriously has brought me to tears. My dad even called me about it, and he’s my hero. I still got some haters in my DMs making fun of me squatting on my coffee table and saying my boobs look ugly, but that’s all just white noise. I’m already thinking of where I can photograph myself squatting in a bikini next. Maybe the Golden Gate Bridge."
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