The Waltons actress Mary McDonough on body image: 'I was under a lot of pressure to be thin - I starved myself!'

THE WALTONS STARS TALK ABOUT THE MUCH LOVED FAMILY SHOW

The Waltons stars Mary McDonough, 55, and Michael Learned, 78, joined us to talk about the US show which everyone fell in love with.

And Mary, who played Erin in the family drama which aired from 1971 until 1981, revealed she was called 'fat' as a child star.

Mary starred as the second-eldest daughter in the Walton family and admitted it was hard growing up in the spotlight, especially when it came to body image.

'When it came to the body image stuff, Erin was supposed to be the ‘pretty one’ so there was a lot of pressure for me to look a certain way and weigh a certain amount,' Mary explained.

Our Janet asked: 'Did they say you were fat?'

'Yeah, I created a body image issue for myself, a lot of radical diets and starving and trying to fit in and be perfect until I grew up and realised there is no perfection in that way,' Mary added.

When asked why people still remember The Waltons so fondly, Mary said people loved the sense of community and family the show offered.

'I think it’s something that has been missing in the world, especially lately, people are missing a sense of community and a sense of family,' Mary said.

'They miss a sense of extended family coming together to support each other and I think the show reminds people that they want to go back to that.'

'Everybody can relate to that because they either had that family or wanted that family.'

Watch the video to see the full interview with Mary and Michael...