McPhee Reveals Battle With Eating Disorder

It's no secret that Katharine McPhee rocked the American Idol world with beauty and an incredible singing voice earlier this year.

What was a secret, up until she recently revealed it, was that the starlet battled bulimia for five years. The eating disorder, which involves self-induced vomiting, put McPhee's health in serious jeopardy. Her lowest points saw her forcing herself to throw up seven times daily.

After successfully auditioning for Idol last fall, the 22-year old (with winner Taylor Hicks, below) decided it was finally time to seek help.

"When I made it onto American Idol, I knew that food -- my eating disorder -- was the one thing really holding me back," she said. "I was bingeing my whole life away for days at a time... So when I got on the show, I said, 'You know what? I can do well in this competition. Let me give myself a chance and just get ahold of this thing.'"