These 12 Celebrities Stunned Their Fans With Their Unexpected Memoir Confessions

The world of celebrity is often associated with glamour, success, and adoration, but behind the polished façade lies a tapestry of life experiences, struggles, and revelations. 

In a collection of memoirs penned by 22 notable figures from the entertainment industry, a different side of fame comes to light.

Bored Panda offers a glimpse into the lives of the stars, showing us that even in the midst of fame and fortune, they too grapple with the same human experiences as the rest of us.

12 PHOTOS

#1 Viola Davis' "Finding Me"

In her new memoir, Finding Me, Viola Davis shared her experience growing up in extreme poverty in Central Falls, Rhode Island.

The How To Get Away With Murder star wrote: “We were ‘po’. That’s a level lower than poor.

“I’ve heard some of my friends say, ‘We were poor, too, but I just didn’t know it until I got older’.

“We were poor and we knew it. There was absolutely no disputing it.

“It was reflected in the apartments we lived in, where we shopped for clothes and furniture—the St. Vincent de Paul—the food stamps that were never enough to fully feed us, and the welfare checks. We were ‘po’.

“We almost never had a phone. Often, we had no hot water or gas.

“We had to use a hot plate, which increased the electric bill. The plumbing was shoddy, so the toilets never flushed.”

#2 Matthew Perry's "Friends, Lovers, And The Big Terrible Thing"

In his 2022 book, Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing, Matthew Perry shared that his relationship with alcohol began when he was just a teenager.

He wrote of his experience as a 14-year-old with substance abuse: “I realized that for the first time in my life, nothing bothered me.

“The world made sense; it wasn't bent and crazy. I was complete and at peace. I had never been happier than at that moment.

“This is the answer, I thought; this is what I've been missing.

“This must be how normal people feel all the time. I don't have any problems. It is all gone.

“I don't need attention. I am taken care of; I am fine. I was in bliss.

“I had no problems for those three hours. I wasn't abandoned; I wasn't fighting with my mom; I wasn't doing poorly in school; I wasn't wondering what life was about or my place in it.

“It took away everything.”

#3 Tom Felton's "Beyond The Wand: The Magic And Mayhem Of Growing Up A Wizard"

In his 2022 book, Beyond the Wand: The Magic and Mayhem of Growing Up a Wizard, Tom Felton shared an episode when his team organized an intervention, recommending that he seek treatment for his struggles with alcohol abuse.

However, his attempt to address the issue by checking into rehab took an unexpected turn as he "escaped" the facility in less than 24 hours.

He wrote: “I didn’t really think, as I strode up the zig-zag road away from the rehab center, that anything would come of my moment of rebellion.

“After I’d walked a couple of hundred meters, I remember thinking that any minute now one of the security people would sprint towards me and rugby tackle me to the ground.

“I’d be dragged back to my room, and that would be that. But nobody sprinted. There were no rugby tackles.

“Two minutes became five and five minutes became ten.”

#4 Drew Barrymore's "Wildflower"

Despite being a lot tamer than her 1990 memoir Little Girl Lost, Drew Barrymore’s second memoir, Wildflower, also sheds light on stunning experiences.

In fact, the Hollywood star recalled a sexist experience she and Cameron Diaz had while skydiving.

Both actresses had enjoyed participating in adventurous and adrenaline-fueled activities since the start of their friendship.

Upon wrapping Charlie's Angels, the pair resolved to venture into the world of skydiving, aiming to share a memorable bonding experience. However, their aspirations for an enjoyable outing were quickly derailed by the inappropriate conduct exhibited by the male staff members at the skydiving school.

Drew wrote: “The guys were kind of making jokes and yukking it up as we changed.

“I was starting to get the sense that these yahoos were holding themselves back from falling all over themselves for [Cameron].

“It was obvious that they were all salivating, and who wouldn’t?

“I zipped up my suit, and we both emerged from our curtained makeshift dressing rooms at the same time. My eyes bulged.

“They had put me in a bright yellow rayon jumpsuit with a giant toucan across the entire front of it. I looked like an Oompa Loompa.

“Then my eyes looked over, and they had given Cameron a skintight, painted-on red spandex onesie that literally let you make out every inch of her body. I wanted to punch these assholes. And there we were, Suzy Chapstick and Toucan Sam.

“They told us how good we looked, and I rolled my eyes and uttered ‘f*ck you’ under my breath.”

#5 Michelle Obama's "Becoming"

Michelle Obama isn't just the former US First Lady and former President Barack Obama’s wife, she is also an attorney, a mother-of-two, and an accomplished author.

In 2018, Michelle published her memoir titled Becoming and unveiled interesting facts regarding her relationship with Barack.

The Chicago native wrote that her initial impression of her husband-to-be was far from positive before their first encounter in 1989 when he became her mentee during his summer associateship at her law firm. 

Although the office assistants who had observed his initial interview found him appealing, Michelle said she was "unmoved" by the picture she saw of him in the staff directory: "a less than flattering, poorly lit headshot of a guy with a big smile and a whiff of geekiness.”

She has also described Barack's style as "challenged." She wrote: "He changed out of his work clothes, I noticed, and was wearing a white linen blazer that looked as if it'd come straight out of the Miami Vice costume closet. Ah well."

#6 Carrie Fisher's "The Princess Diarist"

In her memoir in 2016, The Princess Diarist, Carrie Fisher disclosed that during the filming of their initial Star Wars movie in the 1970s, she engaged in a romantic relationship with Harrison Ford.

Back then, she was 19 years old, while he was 33, and already married with two children.

Harrison was, Carrie recalled, “just so handsome. No. No. More than that. He looked like he could lead the charge into battle, take the hill, win the duel, be the leader of the gluten-free world, all without breaking a sweat.”

She also remembered him as emotionally distant, monosyllabic, and a bit boring, though this didn’t stop her falling for him.

The late actress revealed that during the weekends, they engaged in intimate encounters, while on set during the week, they maintained a facade of being complete strangers.

She wrote: “If Harrison was unable to see that I had feelings for him (at least five, but sometimes as many as seven) then he wasn’t as smart as I thought he was – as I knew he was.

“So I loved him and he allowed it. That’s as close a reckoning as I can muster four decades later.”

#7 Britney Spears' "The Woman In Me"

In Britney Spears’ highly anticipated memoir, The Woman In Me, which was released last month, the princess of pop unveiled that while she dated Justin Timberlake, she became pregnant by him, but had an abortion.

The Baby One More Time singer wrote: “It was a surprise, but for me, it wasn’t a tragedy.

“I loved Justin so much. I always expected us to have a family together one day.

“This would just be much earlier than I’d anticipated.

“But Justin definitely wasn’t happy about the pregnancy.

“He said we weren’t ready to have a baby in our lives, that we were way too young.

“If it had been left up to me alone, I never would have done it. And yet Justin was so sure that he didn’t want to be a father.”

Britney wrote of her experience undergoing the abortion: “To this day, it’s one of the most agonizing things I have ever experienced in my life.”

#8 Prince Harry's "Spare"

In his memoir, Spare, which was published in January, Prince Harry revealed that for years he had trouble grieving his mother Princess Diana's death and even believed that she'd faked the car crash and escaped.

The Duke of Sussex wrote: "With nothing to do but roam the castle and talk to me, a suspicion took hold, which then became a firm belief.

“This was all a trick. And for once the trick wasn't being played by the people around me, or the press, but by Mummy.

“Her life's been miserable, she's been hounded, harassed, lied about, lied to.
“So she's staged an accident as a diversion and run away."

#9 Holly Madison's "Down The Rabbit Hole"

Holly Madison's 2015 Down the Rabbit Hole memoir left no stone unturned, offering readers an unfiltered look into her seven-year tenure at the iconic Playboy Mansion under the wing of Hugh Hefner.

Once Hugh’s top girlfriend, Madison, now 43, disclosed the intricacies of life there, including the house rules, interpersonal dynamics, and more, before her departure.

In several passages, she recounted episodes of severe depression while living at the Playboy mansion.

In one chapter, she shares a moment when she considered committing suicide in a bathtub.

Recalling a conversation with Bridget Marquardt, who was also one of Hugh’s girlfriends, Holly wrote: “‘I told him he should really talk to you about it’.

“If I had any doubts about my decision to leave, what Bridget said had just squashed them.

“Hef knew how desperate, sad, and broken I was, but didn’t do a damn thing about it. I’d given seven years of my life to a man who couldn’t even have a conversation with me.”

#10 Elliot Page's "Pageboy"

In his 2023 memoir, Pageboy, actor and transgender rights activist Elliot Page recalled being verbally assaulted at a party by an A-list actor two months after he had initially come out as gay, prior to coming out as a trans man.

Eliott announced that he identified as a lesbian in 2014 before coming out as transgender in 2020.

In a chapter of Pageboy titled “Famous A--hole at Party,” the 36-year-old said an actor who was an “acquaintance” told him: “You aren't gay. That doesn’t exist. You are just afraid of men.”

The Juno star went on to recount that whilst at a party, the said actor said “he'd ‘fuck [Elliot] to make [him] realize [he wasn't] gay.’"

#11 John Stamos' "If You Would Have Told Me"

In his new memoir, If You Would Have Told Me, John Stamos reflected on the instant he received the news of the passing of his dear friend and fellow Full House cast member, Bob Saget.

He detailed his initial reaction, mentioning that he had come across reports but harbored doubts about their authenticity.

Consequently, he opted to send a text message to Bob. As he received no immediate response from Bob's wife, Kelly Rizzo, his concern deepened.

He wrote: "When I switch callers over to Kelly, all I hear is a wailing scream.

“I hit the ground in the parking lot and my knees slam down on the asphalt. 'Nooooooooooooooooooooo.'"

#12 Kerry Washington's "Thicker Than Water"

In her recently published memoir, Thicker Than Water, Kerry Washington shed light on her struggles with an eating disorder while she attended George Washington University in the 1990s.

The Scandal star wrote: "By the time I got to college, my relationship with food and my body had become a toxic cycle of self-abuse that utilized the tools of starvation, binge eating, body obsession, and compulsive exercise."