Rikki Lake has blamed childhood sexual abuse for her weight issues.

Rikki Lake has blamed childhood sexual abuse for her weight issues.

The actress-turned-talk show host ballooned to 117,9kg at her heaviest. Lake then started taking her health seriously and shed more than half her body weight.

She says: "I was a victim of childhood sexual abuse and I think it contributed. Who knows for sure? I've done many years in therapy and worked on all my issues.

"I didn't talk about it for 15 or 20 years; I didn't admit that it had happened to me because I wanted to kind of bury things.

"It, in some way, made me who I am today. I don't want to be a poster child for this at all but it's a very weird thing for children when they're violated in that way.

"Food became a comfort to me; it was my kind of security blanket."

She never confronted her abuser when she eventually told her parents - but the person was "quickly removed" from her life. - Wenn