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Marie Osmond has spent nearly her entire life in the public eye. From a young age, she was celebrated, admired, and expected to smile no matter what she was facing behind the scenes. While fame brought opportunity and success, it also came with pressures that few could imagine. Over the decades, Osmond has endured a series of deeply personal struggles—yet through each one, she has found a way to survive, heal, and keep moving forward.
In 1976, at just 15 years old, Marie Osmond became co-host of the popular variety show Donny & Marie. It was a dream come true, but the dream quickly revealed its darker side. Along with instant fame came relentless scrutiny over her appearance. Years later, in a 2018 interview with Dr. Oz, Osmond recalled a traumatic moment when producers confronted her about her weight—even though she weighed only 103 pounds. She was warned that if she didn’t stop eating, hundreds of people could lose their jobs. Terrified by the responsibility placed on her young shoulders, Osmond starved herself down to 97 pounds.
The emotional toll didn’t end there. As an adult and a mother, Osmond faced another invisible battle: postpartum depression. Despite adopting five of her eight children, she has shared that she experienced postpartum depression with all of them. Speaking with Larry King, she described the condition as overwhelming and isolating. “It makes you feel helpless. It makes you feel like you don’t even belong in your own life,” she said. At her lowest point, she once left her family, driving up the California coast and staying alone in a hotel until her loved ones convinced her to come home. Looking back, she has said she wished she had sought help sooner.
Osmond later documented this painful chapter in her 2001 book, Behind the Smile: My Journey Out of Postpartum Depression, helping to bring awareness to an issue that many women suffer from in silence.
Her personal life also carried its share of heartbreak. Marie married basketball player Stephen Craig in 1982, and they welcomed a son the following year. However, the marriage ended in divorce just two years later. She remarried in 1986 to music producer Brian Blosil, with whom she had two biological children and adopted five more. Though the marriage lasted over two decades, it ended in 2007. In a surprising and hopeful twist, Osmond later reunited with her first husband, Stephen Craig. As of 2019, the two remain happily married.
In 2006, Osmond again found herself at the center of public speculation after being hospitalized for what was described as an adverse reaction to medication. Tabloid rumors suggested a suicide attempt, but her representatives firmly denied those claims. Within a week, she appeared healthy and was seen vacationing with her family.
The most devastating tragedy of her life came in 2010, when her 18-year-old son Michael Blosil died by suicide after battling depression. Osmond has spoken openly about that loss, sharing that Michael had felt lonely the day before his death. She had reassured him she would be there soon—but depression does not wait. On the night he tried to reach her, Osmond was performing onstage and missed his call. She later learned he was gone. Though the pain remains, she refuses to live in regret. “If you live in ‘what ifs,’ you stop living,” she has said.
Despite unimaginable loss, Marie Osmond continues to stand as a symbol of resilience. Through fame, illness, heartbreak, and grief, she has never stopped moving forward. As she once said, “The way Osmonds survive is we keep singing.”
And through it all, she has.