Supermodel Beverly Johnson Became Addicted to Cocaine While on Extreme Two-Eggs-a-Week Diet

Beverly Johnson got hooked on cocaine during the 1970s when she was attempting to lose weight by eating just two eggs and a bowl of ramen a week.

Content warning: substance use, disordered eating

The supermodel has confessed fashion industry colleagues used to encourage her to look "chiseled to the bone" and she embarked on an extreme eating regime which often left her shaking with hunger as well as battling a drug addiction.

She told New York Post column Page Six: "We were led to believe that cocaine was not addictive. We didn’t know cocaine was addictive. Everyone used drugs back in the day but that particular drug for models was used because we did not eat.

"I remember eating two eggs and a bowl of brown rice a week. I would be shaking in a cab, and I would say pull over because I have to get a bag of M&Ms.

"I would just stop and get the shakes. We did not eat, and every time you came to work they would say, ‘Yes! Chiseled to the bone, girl. Yes,’ like congratulating you. Nobody really told you the truth.”

She went on to reveal she got a "wake-up call" from her mother who put her in front of a "three-way mirror" and forced her to look at her body.

Beverly added: "It was the first time I saw my bones looking back at me. It was a major wake up call for me."

It comes after the model revealed she tied the knot with her fiance Brian Maillian in secret last year after deciding she wanted to get married to celebrate her 71st birthday.

During an appearance on SiriusXM's Sway in the Morning, she confessed the couple, who have been together for 12 years, sneaked off to Las Vegas to marry in a low-key ceremony.

She explained: "Two days before my birthday [on] Oct. 13, he kept saying, 'What do you want for your birthday?'

"I sat up in the bed on Oct. 11 and said, 'I know what I want for my birthday. I want to get married' ... It was just the right moment."

If you or someone you know is struggling with drug and/or alcohol dependence, help is available through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website. To speak to someone on the phone, dial 1-800-622-HELP (1-800-622-4357) or send a text message to 1-800-487-4889.

If you or someone you know has an eating disorder, help is available through the National Eating Disorders Helpline. To speak to someone on the phone, dial 1-800-931-2237.