She’s opening up. Marie Osmond got real on The Talk about how being sexually abused as a child caused her to question her sexuality. “You know I share my life here, but when I was about 8 or 9, I actually thought I was gay,” she told fans during the Monday, October 21, episode. “And the reason is because I had been sexually abused to the point that men made me sick and I didn’t trust them. I didn’t like them.”

Marie added that she dealt with body issues, too. “There was a point in my life that I had so many body issues and different things and I was looking at women and I was thinking, ‘Why am I looking at women? I must be gay,'” she recalled. “And then I realized ’cause I’m a thinker, ‘Why did God give me all these great brothers and why did he give me this amazing father?’ And truly they changed my opinion of men which made me feel like it was something that I was going through.”

Marie Osmond
Shutterstock

Since joining The Talk, Marie has opened up about a number of personal topics including her mother, Olive Osmond‘s car accident, having two deaf older brothers and her son Michael’s funeral. It’s safe to say that Marie doesn’t hold anything back from her fans.

In a candid interview with Closer Weekly, the musician explained why she’s so honest with her followers. “I think sometimes, like in today’s world — especially with social media — you only see all the good,” she said. “Really, it’s the hard things that determine what kind of character you develop.”

marie osmond
Shutterstock

“I think by talking through things, people realize that we’re all women getting through this. We have a lot of men that watch the show too, probably 50 percent, but I think it’s just fun to sit there and go, ‘It’s OK.’ You know, ‘I’ve been there, I’ve been through this,’” she continued. “Maybe that’s one of the reasons they chose me, CBS, is [I’ve] been through a lot of those [ups and downs] and, I don’t know, I think sharing sometimes really helps.”