Tori Spelling opens up about being bullied over her appearance while on 90210: 'I used to hate my eyes'

Tori Spelling has opened up about the bullying about her appearance she endured during the time she was on Beverly Hills, 90210.

On Monday, the actress shared three photos to Instagram, where she revealed that she used to be insecure about her eyes and face because of comments directed at her by internet trolls when she was a teenager on the show.

Explaining that her late father, Hollywood producer Aaron Spelling, always said: “Your eyes are the windows to your soul,” Spelling wrote: “I’ve never forgotten that. Because of that belief my dad rarely let his actors wear sunglasses in a scene. He believed their eyes conveyed everything. All emotions.”

According to Spelling, she’s “carried that motto” through her own life - despite “hating” her own eyes in the past.

“I used to hate my eyes. When I started 90210 at 16 I was filled with low self confidence. Then, internet trolls (yep we had them back then too!) called me frog and bug-eyed,” she explained. “Being put under a microscope as a young girl in her formative years was hard.”

In the post, Spelling recalled how she would “beg” makeup artists on her shows and movies to make her eyes appear smaller, adding that she would “cry over my looks in the makeup trailer chair.”

According to Spelling, who shared a photo of herself on the cover of Rolling Stone when Scream 2 came out as part of the picture trio, she didn’t realise her eyes were an “asset” until the magazine cover came out in 1997.

“I didn’t start to realise what an asset my eyes were till I did Scream 2 and the cover of Rolling Stone reenacting the iconic shower scene from Psycho. My eyes made that photo.They showed the emotion I was ‘feeling in my soul’ in that picture,” she wrote.

The Scary Movie 2 actress also reflected on the lasting insecurities she feels about her appearance, explaining that she is often asked why she only shows one side of her face.

“Some write hurtful things. Yes, it is a choice. My choice. Because, a vulnerable innocent excited girl showed all of her face at 16 and was eaten alive,” the 47-year-old continued. “Choices about my looks were made for me by nameless and faceless accounts. Words can’t be unread. Cyber-bullying existed then and it does now worse than ever.

“So, every time one of you asks me why I don’t look straight on in photos and videos, know why I make that choice. Years of hurtful comments that I don’t even want to share to give them energy. Way worse than bug or frog eyes.”

Spelling then encouraged her followers to think about the possible harmful impacts comments about someone’s appearance can have before posting.

“Just remember next time that you go to comment on someone’s account regarding their face or body or choices, you don’t know them. They don’t know you. But, their soul will remember that unkind comment. It’ll be imprinted on them,” she wrote. “Our memories can’t remember physical pain but we do remember emotional, verbal, and written pain.”

The actress concluded the post with a message of self-love, writing: “That said. Here’s me. Straight on. I love my eyes now. They make me uniquely me. And, I rarely wear sunglasses.”

Spelling’s post was met with support from her followers, who praised her for her honesty.

“You are gorgeous Tori. Thank you for these vulnerable words,” one person wrote.

Another said: “This is so authentic and real! You are and have always been so beautiful. Thank you for sharing this.”