My Strange Addiction returned Wednesday night after a decade-long hiatus, and the addictions featured on the Season 7 premiere did not disappoint, especially the story of Kathryn Andrea, whose habit of exclusively snorting all of her food and drinks through her nose had viewers squirming in their seats.
During Wednesday’s episode, Kathryn, 31, called her snorting habit “deeply personal” and one of her “biggest insecurities.” She also insisted that she doesn’t have an aversion to chewing, but doesn’t like the weird textures food has, calling chewing “awful” and “primitive.”
In an exclusive interview with The Ashley, Kathryn revealed if she’s still snorting her food today, and how she dealt with all the drawbacks— both social and physical— that came from inhaling her meals.
At the end of the episode, Kathryn saw a doctor for the first time about her addiction and was informed that her habit could lead to infections in her lungs, sinuses, central nervous system and other parts of her body, and could potentially be lethal. Kathryn vowed that she would try to stop snorting her food, something she says she has nearly accomplished today.
“I still snort from time to time, but it’s the same way as any other addiction. Sometimes I’ll crack and say, it’s been awhile, for old times’ sake,” Kathryn told The Ashley. “I’m trying to do better…I’ve gotten better to a point with it. I eat kind of more normal now, for the most part.”
In addition to the grave health concerns expressed by her doctor, Kathryn admitted that her snorting habit made dating hard, as well as going out in any social setting.
“The big problem for me was socializing because there was a mental block with me wanting to be myself, but also fighting for acceptance with others,” Kathryn told The Ashley. “I have some really good relationships and friendships that are perfectly fine, but the minute I start snorting my food, there’s a problem. And then everyone’s acting like I’m a freak.
“I tend to be a pretty confident person, so a lot of people know about it,” Kathryn added. “But just dealing with backlash and stuff I started to be kind of weird about going out in public, like going to any food-centered event…so many social gatherings and situations are food-centered. It just makes it hard.”
While Kathryn discussed during her episode how her habit of ingesting all her food and drinks via the nose started, she gave more details to The Ashley.
“A friend of mine dared me to drink a Kool-Aid Jammer [juice drink] through my nose. And I did,” she said. “And I don’t know what it was, but it was a moment where I was just like, ‘We literally have two ways to ingest food. We have a mouth but who said that you have to eat your food through your mouth?’
“I don’t know what it was that happened in my brain but I kind of built up a little bit and then I started snorting exclusively through my nose,” she continued. “I was exclusively snorting my food for a couple of years. I felt that it would probably be better for my teeth, better for my waistline and calorie control. It’s so easy to overeat but that is removed from the equation if you’re snorting your food.”
Kathryn told The Ashley she lost about 35 pounds from snorting her food. However, she also lost some friends and plenty of party and dinner invites because of the habit.
“My family would get really weird about it,” she said. “Basically, everybody would get really weird about it, and I just felt very excluded from later family functions and social events. I tend to not get the invite. Dinner would just kind of happen without me. It was a little bit unfun. I held resentment to a lot of people for awhile, but I’m working on it. I would take offense to it whenever they would say anything about [my addiction] so it became more of a tip-toe situation for my family members.”
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Kathryn stated that she has become so used to snorting that she is able to ingest almost everything— even alcoholic drinks– through her nose.
“I’ve built a decent tolerance to things like spice and heat and cold,” she said. “Alcohol burns basically the same as it does going down your throat as going up the nose, which you wouldn’t expect. I’ve been to some parties where I’ve snorted my drinks and it went really well at the party. It’s kind of like a novelty thing to a lot of people!”
Kathryn has received some negative comments on social media since appearing in the season’s trailer. However, she said she’s doing her best to take it in stride. In fact, she was surprised that so many people found her snorting addiction strange, compared to some of the addictions that are going to be featured on this season of ‘My Strange Addiction.’ (According to the trailer, Season 7 will cover the stories of a man who eats live bugs daily; a woman who is in a relationship with an AI robot and a girl who eats hot glue sticks, among others.)
“Some of the addictions on there are really crazy to me!” Kathryn said.
You can watch a clip of Kathryn’s episode below!
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(Photos: TLC; Instagram)
2 Responses
That’s….weird. Also the AI robot one just sounds sad. AI psychosis is a real thing now, people thinking AI is their friend or even partner. Hell, some people even “marry them.” Look, I am looking for someone as much as the next person but falling in love with a chat bot is not the way.
She sounded like she had a stuffed up nose every time she talked, on the show.