Amanda Bynes Reveals Her Goal Weight After Sharing Her Struggle With Depression

Former actress Amanda Bynes is speaking out about body image and mental health.

Now 37, she got her start as a child actress who appeared on the Nickelodeon sketch comedy series “All That” and “The Amanda Show” spin-off, which ran from 1999 to 2002.

Amanda Bynes Details Weight Gain And Depression On Instagram

On Thursday, in the wake of the bombshell documentary, “Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV,” which details abuses that child actors, including Bynes, endured during their time on the set of various Nickelodeon productions, Bynes posted a message to her Instagram story.

“I’ve gained over 20 lbs in the past few months from being depressed,” wrote the former starlet. “I’m doing a lot better now and have learned to do opposite actions when I don’t feel like working out or eating clean. I weigh 162 lbs right now and want to get back to 110 lbs.”

Bynes Declined To Participate In Bombshell Doc

While Bynes didn’t participate in and has yet to comment on the documentary, her meteoric rise and subsequent struggles were at the center of episode one. The episode focuses on her inappropriate relationship with Nickelodeon producer Dan Schneider. Schneider discovered Bynes as a preteen and launched her career and child star reign at Nickelodeon. Bynes went on to star in “All That” in 1996 and her own show, “The Amanda Show,” in 1999.

Rumors about Bynes and Schneider’s relationship have persisted throughout the years, with many wondering what the true nature of the relationship was. Schneider has come under fire since the documentary’s release because of the toxic work environments he fostered, inappropriate behavior with underage actors, and writing adult gags and storylines into the kids shows he produced.

Bynes hasn’t commented on the documentary, and she and her family also reportedly declined to participate.

Amanda Bynes’ Rise and Fall From Fame

Following her time on Nickelodeon, Bynes made the transition from child to teen star. She starred in the WB’s “What I Like About You” in 2002 and in films like “She’s The Man” (2006), “Hairspray” (2007), and “Easy A” (2010), which is her last credited screen appearance. Bynes announced her retirement from acting that same year.

Since then, Bynes has publicly struggled with substance abuse, legal, and mental health issues. A string of arrests in the early 2010s led to a conservatorship that lasted from 2013 to 2022. Her appearance drastically changed in the midst of her struggles as well.

Bynes Has Been Critical About Her Own Appearance

After sporting multiple wigs and different hairstyles, and getting a tattoo of a heart beneath her left eye, Bynes’ appearance has been the subject of online gossip, which has led her to comment on things like her body image and the way she’d been treated by adults in the industry. She spoke about a director who told her she looked like a monster and explained that she’s very particular about her appearance now.

In a December 2022 TikTok video, she explained, “I was never open about this before, but I actually had blepharoplasty surgery on the skin folds in the corners of my eyes, so I don’t have those skin folds anymore. It was one of the best things I could have ever done for my self-confidence and it made me feel a lot better in my skin. So I just wanted to post about that just to clear up that rumor as to why I have a new look. I feel a lot better now about myself, and I’m so glad I had the blepharoplasty surgery. It was one of the greatest things I could’ve ever done."

Bynes Launched Short-Lived Podcast

Following her weight gain IG story, Bynes also posted a clip from her short-lived podcast entitled, “Amanda Bynes & Paul Sieminski: The Podcast.” In the clip, Bynes explains how she met guest Dahlia Moth.

“Near Halloween, I went to a Halloween Spirits store, and I was working on a fragrance at the time, and I was with my ex-fiancé, Paul Michael. And I spotted Dahlia, who was working behind the cash register. And I said to Paul at the time, ‘Do you think she’s a model, she’s so pretty.’ And he’s like, ‘Yeah, I bet she is.’ And we needed a model for the perfume, to be the face of the fragrance. And so I approached Dahlia and asked her if she was a model and if she’d be interested in doing the fragrance. And she said she would. We exchanged phone numbers and have stayed in touch ever since.”

Bynes announced the ending of her podcast after just one episode in 2023.