Candace Cameron Bure says eating disorder struggle ‘never goes away’

Candace Cameron Bure talks to Yahoo Entertainment about what it was like growing up on Full House. Bure also reveals why she decided to speak publicly about her battle with bulimia after Full House ended.

Video Transcript

CANDACE CAMERON BURE: I don't know how you tell your 10 year old self to have more confidence and not listen to what other people say to you. I think like I'm still learning that at 45 years old.

No cold or boring lunches for me. (SINGING) Looking for some hot stuff beef ravioli.

I started acting when I was five years old. I kind of got thrown into it. I was born and raised in LA and my parents were not in the entertainment industry, but my mom had a friend who had her son in the business and encouraged my mom to allow her to give the picture of us four kids, me and my three siblings, to her agent. So my mom said, yeah, OK. Why Not

- Mike, you were spying on me.

- Me? Oh, no, no Carol. I didn't hear the word the guy said, including and for what it's worth, I'm really glad I bumped into you today.

CANDACE CAMERON BURE: So my brother and I actually started in the industry at the same time. He's six years older than me and he did book the role of Mike Seaver on "Growing Pains" about a year and a half, maybe two years before I got DJ on "Full House".

There's no way you were going out of this house dress like me.

- Did you ever think just maybe you're the one dressing like me?

CANDACE CAMERON BURE: Oddly enough, my brother and I didn't ever talk about work. Because my brother and I were working quite consistently both on television shows, it made it interesting for my sisters, but I think my parents did a really great job because no matter where we traveled, no matter what job we got, my parents made sure that it was a family affair. So it never got awkward in our family. It never was uncomfortable. It was like once we all came home from work or school, it just became about family and it was like what are we cooking for dinner tonight? Who has homework? Go clean your room. Take out the garbage.

"Full House" is a huge highlight of my life. I booked that role when I was nine years old. We shot the pilot and then as the show became a series, I was on it from 10 until 18 years old. So it's really the epitome of my youth and my teenage years. I mean, I literally grew up on television. But I had the best people around me, with Bob Saget and Dave Coulier and Lori Loughlin and John Stamos. And then having Andrea Barbara and Jodie Sweetin as my friend and sisters.

Lori was always there ready for advice or just like to be a best friend, whatever we needed. Bob, Dave, and John, it's really funny because while they were our parents on the show, they were much more like friends and maybe the funny uncle. They weren't giving advice as much as we were probably more professional than them at times, as the children.

It was truly the best environment you could put a child in, as far as television. And listen, I've heard lots of horror stories and I've talked to other actors who did not have the same experience, which is heartbreaking. So I attribute that to the people that worked on the show as well as my parents, for always looking out for our best interests first and not the industry. My mom was pretty much always there, as well as my oldest sister, Bridgette. She actually was my stand in on the show for six years, I believe. We shot the show for eight years. But she was a professional stand-in for probably 20 years.

- We stuck it out and we got through it.

- Just like we always do.

- Just like we always will.

CANDACE CAMERON BURE: I was very sad when the show ended. So now this next step allowed us to move on in a very natural progression. I had met this really cute hockey player at 18, who a year later became my fiancee and then husband. And we've been married for 25 years.

- Deej, this kind of behavior can lead to serious eating disorders. Anorexia, bulimia. You're headed down a dangerous road here.

CANDACE CAMERON BURE: I don't care. I'm the one that has to wear the bathing suit next week. It's my life and I can do whatever I want. You know, all of us have, we've got problems. We've got stuff. It's still today the most common comment that gets spoken to me is like, wow, you're so small. Wow, you're thin. It was always a even as a child, like, wow, you're a lot smaller in person than you look on TV. You're so chubby on TV. And you know, when you hear those things over and over again and they become so repetitive, it can often become your identity, to an extent, or it makes you perceive yourself in a way that you didn't even think you were because other people keep speaking that into you.

You know, today I'm great. I think when you struggle with something like that, it never goes away, but you have the tools in place to know how to handle it when those temptations or urges arise and so that you don't go back to old patterns. And I'm sure that's going to be the way it will be for the rest of my life. But the producers were, they were actually very mindful of it, particularly because Tracey Gold was struggling with anorexia while she was on "Growing Pains". So because those relationships were very close in the shows, the producers on our show saw what was happening with her and wanted to make sure that they were providing the healthiest environment for me and that that wasn't an issue.

I'm so glad that the culture is different today. One thing we've done a great job with is encouraging body confidence, body positivity, and that all shapes and sizes are beautiful. It makes raising a daughter and sons, but a daughter, that much easier because we have great role models and the message across the board from the media and magazines, is very different than it was in the 80s and 90s.

(SINGING) Falling in love with you.

CANDACE CAMERON BURE: Shut up.

I'm very supportive of Natasha's career. I've known she's wanted to be an actress for a very long time, since she was little. I had a great experience. It's why I'm still in the industry 40 years later. I'm still doing this. And there's no one better to give her advice and help her navigate, than me. And be protective and cautious, to help her make good decisions, but also be surrounded by the right people, which I think is the biggest key to success in the entertainment industry.

My boys do not want to be actors or anywhere in any way, shape, or form involved in entertainment. And I'm OK with that.

Isn't this crazy? I wound up living back in my old bedroom. I moved in here when I was five.

- Now here we are again. It's the circle of life. Oh, look. And they're Simba.

CANDACE CAMERON BURE: It was like lightning striking twice. To come back to the show, work with my best friend, and then get to play this character that I already loved, it was very important for Jodie, Andrea, and I to give the same type of experience to the kids on "Fuller House" that we had as children because it was so positive. And I hope we did that for them. We just wanted to make it such a warm, loving environment. And we were really like their moms. Probably too much.

This was supposed to be just a fun little contest and somehow it's turned into way more than that.

So the "Christmas Contest" is based on two people that are exes. They were actually engaged, no longer together. They both become finalists in a Christmas contest and realize that they're going to be competing against each other. While we were developing the script, as we fleshed out these characters, I knew right away, I said John Bretherton has to play Ben in this movie. He has to because we have so much history together. It's like already written for us.

I don't know how you tell your 10 year old self to have more confidence and not listen to what other people say to you. I think like I'm still learning that at 45 years old. But that's what I would want to tell her. It's like, don't worry about everyone else's opinion. Just be you. And you're good enough.