Iyanla Vanzant to Maia Campbell: “Looking Good On the Outside Won’t Change Your Inside”

Fallen 90s sitcom star Maia Campbell once had it all. She was young, beautiful and successful all before the age of 19. After a starring role on In the House alongside rapper LL Cool J and a series of notable movie appearances, it seemed as if she was destined for Hollywood gold. Then, she got married, had a baby and stopped taking medication for her bipolar disorder. Disaster soon followed. She turned to drugs, lost custody of her daughter, got divorced and wound up arrested multiple times. A viral video of her seemingly high and delirious on the streets in 2010 sent the singer’s reputation down the toilet.

On last night’s episode of Iyanla: Fix My Life, the actress, who is the daughter of the late author Bebe Moore Campbell, reached out for help. Vanzant visited Campbell at a rehab facility where she has been living while trying to recover. While there, the host forced her to confront her demons and dig deep for the source of her problems.

“I shop a lot,” said Campbell as she and Vanzant toured her messy room. “That’s one of my coping skills, to shop. I want to feel pretty enough. I want to feel good enough. I want to be whole again. I want to look good on the outside because I feel ruined on the inside.”

Iyanla quickly responded, “Let’s be clear about this. Looking good on the outside is not going to change your inside.”

Watch the clip above and tell us what you think of Campbell’s progress and confessions.