Actress and TV host Ricki Lake has a new memoir out from Simon & Schuster called Never Say Never. In the book, she talks about overcoming weight issues by looking in the mirror and learning to see her true beauty.
Filmmaker and author Jon Waters, who directed Lake in the film classic Hairspray, wrote the foreword. ABC News has published an excerpt from the book:
Staring at my hips in the mirror, in an effort to make them move like a dancer’s, was awkward for me, plain and simple. The very first day we worked together, Derek commanded me to stare down my own image and truly believe, deep down in my gut, that I was a beautiful dancer. Only if I was able to do this, he said, would it become true. I knew that he was right, but I doubted that I’d ever be so confident.