Katharine McPhee, who finished second this season on the U.S. TV show "American Idol," says it was her victory over bulimia that really mattered.
"I knew I had put off going to a treatment center long enough -- I'd been struggling with bulimia since I was 17," McPhee said.
"Growing up in Los Angeles and spending all those years in dance class, I'd been conscious of body image at a young age, and I went through phases of exercising compulsively and starving myself. ... Food was my crutch; it was how I dealt with emotions and uncomfortable situations."
The 22-year-old singer was enrolled for three months at the Eating Disorder Center of California, where she said she managed to gain control over the eating disorder.
