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Tracey Gold has said that weight-related jokes about her character on Growing Pains hurt her as she struggled with anorexia. She became seriously ill during the sitcom’s run and was hospitalized in its final season, according to her 2005 account. But Gold has not said the show or its writers caused her eating disorder: in 2025, she said she did not blame the writers and could not know whether television magnified the effect.
What happened to Tracey Gold during Growing Pains?
Gold played Carol Seaver on the ABC sitcom. In a 2005 interview with CNN, she said she became very ill while working on the show and was hospitalized for anorexia during its last season. She also said she took a year away after the series ended to regain her health. In 2011, she described a diet that spiraled out of control, leaving her so ill that she had to leave the show and go to a hospital.
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Gold’s own account is the clearest basis for describing how the illness affected her work. A 1995 Los Angeles Times profile also connected her departure and year away from the show to anorexia, while cautioning that some reports about her condition had been exaggerated.
What did Gold say about weight jokes in the scripts?
In a 2011 CNN interview, Gold recalled that jokes about her weight in the scripts hurt her. She said she went on a diet and lost about 20 pounds, then found that the weight loss and dieting had become difficult to stop.
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Her 2025 account added detail to that recollection. Gold said the early exchanges between Carol and Mike Seaver were lighthearted, but that the jokes about Carol’s weight became more frequent and edgier. After a summer hiatus during which she had gained weight, she recalled that the jokes became meaner. She said that, as a child actor, she initially thought she had to keep quiet and do her job, and later told people in authority that the remarks were hurting her.
Did the jokes cause her anorexia?
The available accounts do not establish that the sitcom or its writers caused Gold’s anorexia. Gold has described the jokes as hurtful and discussed them as part of the circumstances surrounding her illness, but in 2025 she explicitly said she did not blame the writers. She also said she could not know whether being on television magnified her susceptibility, adding, “I was the one that was very susceptible to it.”
Gold’s recollections describe more than one factor. In 2025, she said that before the diet, her anorexia had been more connected to wanting to remain childlike and fearing puberty than to weight. She recalled that a doctor put her on a 500-calorie-a-day diet and that she received compliments about her appearance afterward. That figure is Gold’s retrospective account, as reported by Us Weekly; it is not independently verified by a medical record and should not be treated as safe or appropriate guidance.
What do the reported weight figures mean?
The numbers in published accounts refer to different claims and time frames, not a single verified record of Gold’s weight during filming.
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- About 20 pounds: Gold said in a 2011 CNN interview that she lost about this much during a diet that spiraled out of control.
- 80 pounds: ABC News reported in 2011 that this was Gold’s lowest weight in her early twenties. The report does not securely date that figure to a particular period of filming, and it is not a medical record.
- 500 calories a day: Gold’s 2025 recollection of a doctor-prescribed diet, reported by Us Weekly; it has not been independently verified.
These are reported biographical details, not benchmarks for assessing illness or recommendations for anyone else.
How did Gold describe recovery?
Accounts of Gold’s recovery describe hospitalization, time away from work and psychotherapy. A 1995 Los Angeles Times profile reported that she received intensive psychotherapy with a UCLA eating-disorders specialist. In 2005, Gold spoke about using tools she had learned in therapy. In 2011, she described herself as recovered while also saying she remained aware of her vulnerability. That was her description at the time, not a current clinical assessment.
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Gold later spoke publicly about eating disorders and hosted Starving Secrets, a reality series intended to bring attention to the subject, ABC News reported in 2011. Her advocacy is part of her public history; it does not establish the clinical effectiveness of a television program.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Sources and the limits of the record
Gold’s 2005 and 2011 interviews provide her firsthand descriptions at those times. The 1995 Los Angeles Times profile and ABC News’s 2011 report provide additional reporting, while the 2025 Us Weekly story records her later reflections on the scripts and her susceptibility. These accounts document what Gold said and what publications reported; they do not provide an official clinical record or prove a single cause for her illness.
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