Chrissy Metz Embraces a 'Health-Positive' Mindset After 'Always' Being Labeled the 'Chubby Girl'

Chrissy Metz is focused on her health after years of being defined by her body.

“I was always the chubby girl, and I was also sort of the only one,” Metz, 44, recalled of her childhood in an interview published on Wednesday, August 13. “We’d go shopping at Wet Seal, and I wanted to wear the cute shorts and outfits, but all I could fit were the accessories.”

The Hunting Wives star said she always felt “less than” her cheerleader friends and looked to food as comfort, which she later recognized as disordered thinking.

“It was my crutch, the love to fill in the holes. Food was always my thing,” she explained.

After finding success in Hollywood, appearing in hit shows like This Is Us, the actress embarked on a wellness journey not to be super skinny but because she wants “to live the longest life possible.”

"I know skinniness doesn't equal happiness. I just want to be health-positive,” the Nashville resident detailed. “I never said I wanted to be the face of body-positivity. It’s not that I condone morbid obesity or heroin chic. I condone a healthy body."

The Netflix star revealed that her new romance, an electrical engineer whom she’s been dating out of the spotlight for a year, is “so supportive and so kind” to her fitness goals.

“I’m like, this relationship makes me feel good about myself? What’s the catch?” she laughed off.

The relationship marks her first since splitting from Bradley Collins in 2023. The pair began dating in 2020 after meeting on the dating app Bumble. After a three-year romance and collaborating on the children’s book titled, When I Talk to God, I Talk About You, the former couple announced their amicable split in October 2023.

"After three and a half years together, we’ve decided to end our romantic relationship amicably," their joint Instagram statement read. "While we continue to love each other very much, we believe this is the best path for us both. We still have books to write, songs to sing, and a special friendship to keep us in each other’s lives forever.”