The actress discusses troubled childhood on Nightline.
(Photo: Scott Kirkland/PictureGroup)
Vanessa Williams's childhood wasn't picture perfect. The Desperate Housewives star, who recently revealed she had been molested by a female family friend, tells Nightline that she also became pregnant as a teenager and had an abortion.
"Being pregnant is the most frightening thing that happens in your life," says the 49-year-old. "I knew in high school that's something that I was not prepared to do, or fight, or struggle with."
Williams blames her ordeal partly on an overly-sexualized childhood resulting from the incident of abuse.
"I think I was highly sexualized because I was in fifth grade and I had this experience," she explained. "Because it feels good, you're like, OK, well this is supposed to be normal. That's not normal for a 10-year-old to be seduced."
The former Miss World, who lost her title after a nude photo scandal, discusses her painful past further in her upcoming memoir, You Have No Idea.
Despite a rough start, the mother of four enjoys tremendous success as a singer and actress. Hopefully her brave confessions will help others overcome like she did.
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