Rhea Ripley is the talk of the town when it comes to WWE. She’s currently involved in multiple WWE storylines, from her steamy romance with Dominik Mysterio to her upcoming WrestleMania feud with SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair. “Mami” is unstoppable right now, especially since she won the 2023 women’s Royal Rumble match. Unfortunately, she was not always on top of her game in life.

While most fans know Rhea Ripley as an incredibly strong character who also happens to be very physically powerful, she was not always like that. Whoever looks at Rhea Ripley’s physique right now stands in absolute awe of her. She’s built like a killer and both women’s and men’s divisions in WWE have faced the wrath of her brutish strength. Hence, it may come as a shock to several fans that The Nightmare once suffered from a crippling case of body dysmorphia, a mental condition where one constantly worries and finds flaws in their physical appearance.

Rhea Ripley has candidly spoken about her struggles with body dysmorphia and self-harm in order to raise awareness about the pertinent issue. In an interview with Lilian Garcia on her Chasing Glory podcast, Ripley revealed, “I feel like I have really bad body dysmorphia. My ex used to say it all the time because I would look at myself in the mirror and say, ‘Oh, I look disgusting.’ He’s like, ‘You got something wrong with you because you look fine.’ Even Kevin, [aka Demetri Jackson, Ripley’s then boyfriend], says, ‘You look great!’ And I’m like, ‘No, look at this bit on my tummy right here. It’s fat.’

Rhea further explained how her mental condition developed through the years. “I think it was growing up, and watching TV, and looking at magazines – all of that stuff, and you know how all of that is portrayed. I still have a certain way that I want to look, and it’s really difficult because of the touchy subject, but I see a lot of fitness models, and a lot of them are on steroids. I’m like, ‘I don’t ever want to put that crap in my body, like, ever. I hate that.’ I don’t want to die young; I just want to look like them, so, that makes it really hard. I go, ‘Why don’t I look like this? I put so much time and effort into the gym and my legs aren’t growing.’” She even revealed that she confided in her long-time friend and current AEW star Toni Storm who had also suffered from similar problems including self-harm.

Rhea Ripley Says That She Used To Harm Herself When She Was Younger

Speaking with the New York Post, Rhea revealed that when she was younger she used to cut herself. “I still feel myself slipping there from time to time, but I find that if I do look at the scars that I have from that time it helps me to remind myself that I’ve been through all of this, and I was able to overcome it. And I think that that’s really special in the way that I know that I can keep going and keep doing what I love, and I have people in my life that are going to help me overcome whatever I need to overcome at that point in time.”

Rhea Ripley also disclosed that her loving fans, family, and her dream job in WWE help her ground herself and stay positive.