Model Olivia Ponton Opens Up About Her Battle With Anorexia

Olivia Ponton, model and girlfriend of Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow, has spoken openly about her past struggles with eating disorders.

Ponton, who has been dating Burrow for around two years, shared the candid message with her followers over the weekend.

The model, who has appeared in Sports Illustrated’s Swimsuit Issue, said she had experienced “many forms” of eating disorders.

‘Being anorexic, nine times out of 10, is not going to give you the body that you’re craving, nor desiring. And as someone who has struggled with many, many, many forms of eating disorders, specifically anorexia, I want to talk about this,’ Ponton said in a TikTok video shared on Saturday. 

She also challenged the assumption that models and other professionals expected to maintain a particular appearance avoid eating. According to Ponton, that belief “couldn’t be further from the truth.”

“When people think you are anorexic, they automatically assume you are going to be at your skinniest and look the best you have ever looked,” Ponton said. “For me, when I was at the height of my eating disorders, I had never looked worse.”

Looking back on her recovery, Ponton said she has never felt better since overcoming the struggles she faced.

She reiterated that, despite what some people may assume, she felt she “never looked worse” during the period when her eating disorders were most severe.

“And trust me when I say it took many, many, many years to reach this point,” she added.

Ponton said she chose to share her experience in the hope that it could support others facing similar challenges.

“I wish there had been someone I was actively following when I was going through my eating disorders who was saying, ‘Hey, just because you are doing this, it does not mean you will get the results you want,’” she said.

Her comments came after Ponton recently revealed that she had been cheated on in previous relationships, adding that infidelity is no longer something she will tolerate.

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“I have been cheated on in every past relationship I have had. Literally every single one of them. All of them,” Ponton said.

She acknowledged that she once blamed herself for her former partners’ infidelity, saying she believed it happened because she was not good enough.

However, Ponton shared that as she has grown older she no longer blames herself, turning the blame on her unfaithful partners.

‘I think cheating is a sign of insecurity. If you feel the need to be in a happy, healthy relationship with somebody, and go to get outside validation that you are attractive, that is not a reflection of this perfectly great person that could be in your life. That is a reflection on them,’ Ponton said. ‘That’s my hot take.’

Ponton and Burrow were first romantically linked after she reported a home burglary at his property to 911 in October 2024, sparking dating rumors.

At a press conference in the days that followed, Burrow said: ‘I feel like my privacy has been violated in more ways than one, and way more is already out there than I would want out there and that I care to share so that’s all I got to say about that.’

Since then, however, the pair have kept under the radar with few public outings together, though she’s been spotted by his side this year at the Kentucky Oaks horse race, cheering him on at the Fanatics Flag Football Classic and heading to a Met Gala afterparty.

She’s also seemingly been stepping up her rumored relationship with Burrow, making a rare public appearance with the Cincinnati Bengals quarterback at training camp ahead of this season.

Ponton and Burrow, however, have not publicly confirmed their relationship.