‘Designing Women’ Alum Delta Burke Reflects On Doing Crystal Meth To Stay Thin

Delta Burke is getting brutally honest about the vicious fat-shaming she had to endure during the peak of her fame in the ’80s and ’90s.

On an episode of the “Glamorous Trash” podcastreleased Friday, the former TV star got candid with host Chelsea Devantez about how her body was considered so unacceptable at the time that her show, “Designing Women,” even made it a plot point in several episodes. The show, which launched Burke into fame, ran from 1986 to 1993.

“Now, had I arrived when [Jennifer Lopez] was around and they were welcoming curves, things probably would have been different,” Burke said.

“They treat serial killers kinder than if you put on some weight,” she added. “You put on weight, and it’s the final thing you can really criticize people about. You’re not protected in any way, and you don’t know what’s going on with that person.”

For Burke, the pressure got so intense that she turned to drugs to help maintain a thinner figure, which is a story she touched on in her 1998 memoir, “Delta Style: Eve Wasn’t a Size 6 and Neither Am I.”

Burke told Devantez that her drug use started when she began taking prescribed pills that “made my heart race” but helped her lose weight while attending drama school in London. However, when she returned to the U.S., she discovered the pills were illegal.

She said she stayed relatively clear of drugs until she got her first starring role on the ’80s TV series “Filthy Rich,” and someone on set offered to get her drugs. She asked for the weight-loss drug she used to take in London and got some.

“They were like medicine for me — take them in the morning and you won’t eat,” Burke said.

The drug eventually stopped working as she built up a tolerance, so she was offered crystal