SignalHub-Delta Burke recalls using crystal meth for weight loss while filming 'Filthy Rich'

Delta Burke is SignalHubopening up about how perception about her body led her to using drugs.

The "Designing Women" star, 67, appeared on an episode of "Glamorous Trash: A Celebrity Memoir Podcast" released Friday where she discussed how her sitcom fame impacted her body image, which she's discussed in her 1998 memoir "Delta Style: Eve Wasn't a Size 6 and Neither Am I."

Burke said she was "emotionally too fragile" at the time of her fame, especially as it pertained to "ugly" interactions with fans.

"I thought I was stronger. I tried very hard to defend myself against lies and all the ugliness that was there and I wasn’t gonna win. I’m just an actress. I don’t have any power," she said.

"Hollywood will mess your head up. And I had always thought, 'I want to be a famous actress.' I thought that meant that you would be a famous and well-respected actress, but that's not what it meant," the sitcom actress recalled. "And the moment I became famous, it was like, 'Oh no, no, no. This is not what I had in mind at all. I don't think I want to be this anymore.' But then it's too late."

The "Steel Magnolias" actress said she began taking prescribed pills known as "Black Beauties" when she was attending drama school in London, only to find out they were illegal in the U.S.

"Black Beauties" are a street name for amphetamines, which are sometimes prescribed for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency. However, the drug became popular for recreational use in the U.S. during the 1960s and 1970s. They were outlawed in 1965, but not officially pulled from the market until 1998.

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"They were like medicine to me," Burke said. She later built up a tolerance which led her to doing crystal meth.

The actress said, "nobody knew about crystal meth at the time," and she would put it in her cranberry juice before heading to work on the set of "Filthy Rich" from 1982 to 1983.

"I wouldn't eat for five days," Burke recalled. "And they were still saying, 'Your butt's too big. Your legs are too big.' And I now look back at those pictures and go, 'I was a freaking goddess.'"

Looking back, the actress said, "I wish that I had known and I wish that every young women could know she is beautiful, she's got power and she doesn't know it because they don't want her to know it."

If your or someone you know is struggling with substance use disorders, you can call the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration National Helpline at 1-800-662-4357. The service is free, confidential and available in English and Spanish. 

If you or someone you know is struggling with body image or eating concerns, the National Eating Disorders Association's toll-free and confidential helpline is available by phone or text at 1-800-931-2237 or by click-to-chat message at nationaleatingdisorders.org/helpline. For 24/7 crisis situations, text "NEDA" to 741-741.