Bella Thorne is opening up about the mental health ramifications of her complicated childhood relationship with her mother, Tamara Thorne.
“I think between everything with a lot of the the work and growing up and the way that I did, I struggled very badly with suicidal thoughts and depression,” the actress, 28, said during the Wednesday, August 5, episode of the “Call Her Daddy” podcast. “And I thought at one point like if I had hurt myself that maybe she would see how much pain I was in.”
Bella, who was on the cusp of becoming a legal adult at the time, admitted that when she experienced those negative thoughts she knew she had to “leave” her childhood home.
“I was turning 18 soon and I could feel the erraticness coming there again,” she reflected. “Not having the space to be like let’s actually talk about what happens when you turn 18. I think I was so scared and my mom was so scared. We were both so scared.”
Bella shared that her and Tamara’s relationship was “quite fractured” in her youth, so she decided to move in with then-boyfriend Gregg Sulkin.
“I moved out that night um uh with my boyfriend at the time, Gregg,” she recalled. “In a blink of an eye, I’m this one person and in moments later I’m a completely other person and I have no idea where to go or what to do or I don’t have an ID. I don’t have anything. I literally don’t have anything.”
Bella shared that Sulkin, now 34, was the one who showed her “how to be an adult.”
Back in 2019, Bella publicly shared an open letter to her mom addressing their strained relationship.
“I’m sorry for the words I have said. I needed to get them out from lingering underneath my skin. … I know your life hasn’t been perfect and I know that that’s why mine hasn’t been either,” she wrote via Instagram. “Everything in life is a mystery but what’s not, is this infinite undying love I have for you.”
Bella added that she and her mom were working on making their dynamic better.
“Our relationship is f–ed up but I’m glad we are here,” she continued. “I’m grateful we have time to mend. I love you mommy ❤️.”
Tamara, for her part, confirmed that she and Bella once had a strained relationship.
“I love my family and unconditionally love Bella very much,” Tamara said in a statement to People at the time. “My family always comes first, and they are my number one priority. Bella and I did have a falling out a few years ago, but we are on the mend.”
If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org.
