Kelly Osbourne: “I Stopped Hating The Way I Looked”

Rock heiress Kelly Osbourne is opening up and baring a lot in the December issue of SHAPE magazine — donning a sexy, red bikini on the cover and sharing details about how she got fit…the healthy way…inside.

But getting into that bikini initially took the former Dancing with the Stars contestant aback. She arrived at the SHAPE cover shoot and practically fainted when she saw the room full of  skimps suits: “I’ve never worn a bikini in my whole life,” she said. “[Was] I really about to bare all to the entire world? I [was] so nervous!”

And given the cruel treatment she’d endured for most of her life in the public eye and by tabloids, who can blame her? The daughter of Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne, Kelly was most often criticized  for her weight. “I was called fat and ugly in the press almost my entire life,” says the 26-year-old. “I understand that being judged by others comes with the territory, but it broke my heart and ruined my self-esteem. It sets you up to hate yourself in a huge way. I was so angry about the things people said about me. I truly believe it’s the main reason I turned to Vicodin and ended up in rehab three times. I just hated myself.”

“I stopped hating the way I looked”

In the beginning, the hardest part wasn’t the workout, it was seeing her reflection in the mirror. “I would look at myself and think, ‘Ugh!’ I was miserable. To get to the gym—when you already don’t like yourself—is really hard. So I had to make it fun. I started wearing cute outfits and putting on a little bit of makeup. And as vain as it sounds, it really helped me because eventually I stopped hating the way I looked.”

Kelly’s hard work has paid off—big  time. “Ultimately, I’m really glad I lost the weight the way I did,” she says. “I never thought in a million years I’d be that healthy girl who wakes up every morning to exercise. After being called ‘cherubic and chubby,’ I’m rocking a bikini! I feel silly, but I think I’m going to cry. Being on the cover of SHAPE is the biggest victory I could ever hope for.”

The December issue of SHAPE hits newsstands on November 22.