Tracey Gold Opens Up About How Body-Shaming & ‘Misogyny’ On ‘Growing Pains’ Set Triggered Her Anorexia

Apr 25, 2025 by apost team

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Tracey Gold, 55, is an actress best known for her role as Carol Seaver on “Growing Pains.” On the Jan. 26, 2025 episode of “Let’s Be Clear with Shannen Doherty,” Gold opened up about a challenging period on set despite having the “best memories” of the 1985 show. 

Her time on the show was tainted by fat-shaming incidents she experienced during filming. Gold noted she’d “never done comedy before” and was nervous, but the “first few years” were a “great, fun experience.” She also described the cast as “lightning in the bottle,” though the writing grew “edgier” at her “expense.” 

She recalled: “They started to have Mike Seaver make fat jokes about Carol Seaver.” Gold explained the struggles of being a child actor: “You have to be the best person on that set.” She said that while adults were allowed to laugh and forget their lines, child actors needed “to get there,” “shut” their mouths, and “do” their job.

Gold felt she had “no voice” when the fat jokes started, but she had to “brush it off.” She recalled that during one summer break, she gained weight, which “accelerated” the jokes and made them “meaner.” Gold finally had enough and decided to confront the “intimidating writers,” and explained that the joking “hurts” her feelings.

Gold, the oldest of five sisters, recalled the writers telling her that she doesn’t “have brothers, so you don’t know what this is like.” They also added that they’re not calling her fat since if it were true, they “couldn’t say it.”

Gold replied: “You’re not talking just about Carol anymore. You’re talking about me, Tracey Gold. And now I have to be in front of an audience that’s laughing at me and my body and my weight, and it became tough.” The producers then told her that she had to lose weight, and she was placed on a 500-calorie-a-day diet by a doctor.

Gold recalled how everyone reacted to her drastic weight loss:

“And all of a sudden, everybody’s coming up to me on the set, going, ‘Oh my God, you look so good, you look so beautiful, you look so amazing.’” 

She continued:

“I think everyone meant well, but in my view of it I was like, ‘Was I that embarrassing before? Was I absolutely kidding myself that I could go on national TV, be Carol Seaver, and I really was that person they were saying those jokes about?’”

Gold said she followed a dangerous diet that left her “starving” to avoid being the “butt of anybody’s joke.” Her then-boyfriend-turned-husband, Roby Marshall, had been concerned, but she dismissed it, saying:

“Everybody just kept giving me compliments.” 

She lamented over the show’s culture of “misogyny,” claiming producers prioritized “‘the beautiful actress of the week’ and frequently sexualized women,” while noting it “really was a boys’ club.” However, Gold didn’t blame the writers for the eating disorder she developed.

“I think if I had been on the cheerleading team and a cheerleading coach had said the same thing to me, I think that would have happened to me. I would’ve gone down a road of restriction. Was it magnified because I was on TV? Possibly. I’ll never know,” she explained. 

The actress also highlighted the role producers play in child actors’ lives:

“It was so ingrained in me that what all these producers say to me has to be true. And you listen to them, and their opinion is what matters.”

“Growing Pains” was canceled in 1992, and Gold was sent to an inpatient treatment clinic to recover from her anorexia. Gold recalled that she was ordered to keep her “mouth shut,” but finding her voice was key to raising awareness about anorexia as a serious illness, not vanity.

In 1992, Gold finally opened up about her eating disorder in a People Magazine cover story. On the podcast, she expressed pride in speaking out then, saying: “My voice with the eating disorder became more powerful.” 

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Tracey Gold’s difficult journey sheds light on the damaging effects of societal pressures and toxic environments on mental health. How can we better protect child actors from this harmful spotlight? Let us know your thoughts, and then pass this along to anyone facing a similar struggle.