You’d think that the biggest issue when dating Joe Francis would be something related to his Girls Gone Wild empire, or maybe his massive legal bills, but his gorgeous model girlfriend Abbey Wilson confesses on Couples Therapy that something much different has come between them.
“The biggest issue in our relationship would be, since I was twelve I’ve suffered with an eating disorder that has taken a lot of my life. It’s taken relationships, it’s taken my spirit, my mind, and it’s been the most difficult and challenging thing that I’ve ever been through in my life.”
Maybe the issues of Joe Francis’ hot chicks empire, and Abbey’s food and body issues aren’t so disparate, though. Dr. Jenn points out in a preview “Her issue is around body image and eating disorders, and here you are, someone who has made a living basically exploiting women.”
Joe’s retort? “If you say I exploit women, then Steven Spielberg exploits actors.”
On the second episode, Abbey opened up in group therapy about her eating disorder. “It goes up and down, I have good years and I have bad years. When we first got together I was deep in my eating disorder, and I fell even deeper as the relationship progressed.”
“I didn’t even know about,” Joe said. “That’s why I just feel like the biggest idiot, and like I could have helped her. She was 20, and I was 34 or whatever . . . but lived together for over a year, and I didn’t know at all. This eating disorder runs her life, and runs our relationship.”
Abbey reveals in group therapy that her eating disorder goes back to childhood, when she was hear her mom throw up in the toilet, and actually watch her throw up in giant cups.
Dr. Jenn pointed out that Joe may have been attracted to Abbey because she was struggling, and that he may make Abbey an “identified patient,” because she has a diagnosed disorder that puts him in control and makes it hard for him to deal with his own issues.
