We all know Marie Osmond as the talented singer who performed with her brother in the '70s, but to eight people, she's known as "mom." Osmond is a proud mom of eight, to Stephen, 35, Jessica, 31, Rachael, 29, Brandon, 22, Briana, 21, Matthew, 19, Abigail, 16, and Michael, who sadly took his own life in 2010 at age 19.
While usually it's the parents who watches after their kids, Osmond admitted at at one point, it was the other way around. The entertainer has a well-documented history with weight issues, and in an episode of Celeb Parents Get Real, Osmond opened up about her kids being so worried about their weight, they finally had to say something.
"They're so sweet. How many 16-year-olds tell you they love you?" she said, holding back tears. "It's hard when you have to work - I was the provider, so for my children to understand that and love me and care enough about me to say, "Mom, you're going to die, we need you. Please lose the weight...They went through a lot of tough stuff. They're survivors. They are the best things I've ever done, ever."
While appearing on Dancing With The Stars, the country singer collapsed on the ground. She said it was caused by exhaustion, which also had to do with her weight. Osmond is currently a spokesperson for Nutrisystem, and credits the program with helping her to 50lbs.
"I've got to be honest. I was overweight and out of shape," she said when she joined the program. "I didn't feel good. I was tired. My joints ached. My confidence was down...I was unhappy about how I looked and how I felt. I knew I was getting older but I didn't want to feel older. Plus, talk about stress. Here I am, a single mom managing a career. It was very easy to put on a few pounds here and a few pounds there. Sometimes life just gets you off track and before you know it, you're 50 pounds heavier."
But even though Osmond has lost the weight now, she's still got emotional wounds from the past.
"You have scars, it was the 1970s and it was a man's world. Women were not empowered like they are now. Back then my self-esteem was pretty tough. You had to go inward to find it," she told People. "As you get older and you can get through those things and you realize it wasn't about you it was about them. You learn to move forward."
As for her kids, Osmond cannot say enough nice things about them.
"They're all really hard workers and they are kind to each other and try really hard to be kind to people," Osmond gushed. "Some of my kids are adopted and I can't remember which ones, but some of them are more like me than my biological and I'm like, 'I know why God sent you to me!'"
Osmond now has four grandchildren, and it's wonderful that she is healthy enough to enjoy her time with them!
[H/T: People]
