Denise Richards & her ‘active lifestyle’ don’t get why you think she’s too thin

Denise Richards

Here are some photos of Denise Richards at the Radio Disney music awards on Saturday evening with daughter Sam and a little friend. Those kids look positively adorable, but Denise has reclaimed her addiction to tanning lotion like Russell Brand hitting the shagging scene again after he divorced Katy Perry. I don’t know if there’s a 12-step program for tanning, but something needs to be done about this orangey stuff. I know there’s a certain ingredient in some self-tanners that reacts with people’s skin in different ways, but you’d think Denise would be savvy enough to sniff out the better brands that actually bronze skin and looks more natural than an orange tint. Oh well.

Denise is still looking pretty thin in these photos. Back in February, we covered a Star story that labelled her “scary skinny” based upon a certain set of photos that revealed slightly gristly (in a Madonna sense) arms. A lot of you disagreed with my assessment that Denise looked fit and mostly healthy even though I suggested that stress (raising three daughters as a single mother and being an ex of Charlie Sheen) could also be a factor in her shrinking figure. She has a very low percentage of body fat although I’m not sure whether Denise is naturally thin or is actually starving or over-exercising herself to get there. She was curvier during her fleeting Bond girl days, so I don’t know what’s going on with her. For her part, Denise is really tired of all of the judgmental attitudes concerning her body. Here are her words from the red carpet:

Denise Richards

Denise Richards isn’t wasting away, despite rumors to the contrary. In recent weeks, the Twisted actress has been criticized for supposedly looking “painfully thin” and “extra skinny” by several media outlets, including The Sun, Radar Online, The Daily Mail and E! News. The 42-year-old mother of three defended her athletic build during the Radio Disney Music Awards in L.A. Apr. 27.

“I don’t know why lately I’ve been getting so much flack for it,” Richards told Extra. “I have a very healthy lifestyle and I’m busy.”

The Pilates devotee added, “What bothers me is I have three daughters [Sam, 9, Lola, 7, and Eloise, 22 months]. I’m such an advocate for health and fitness. . . In moderation, we eat ice cream all the time. I had grilled cheese before we got here!”

In fact, at Carbon Audio’s launch party for Zooka in West Hollywood on Aug. 3, 2012, Richards told Us Weekly her girls are healthy eaters by choice. “They actually like to cut up fresh vegetables with ranch dressing on the side. That’s their favorite!” she shared. “They love helping. They like making salads because they like chopping things up and rinsing the lettuce. Nothing too fancy!”

[From Us Weekly]

Like I said, Denise is under a fair amount of pressure with her largely solo childrearing responsibilities. She often cares for Charlie’s twin boys from his ex-wife Brooke Mueller in addition to caring for her three daughters, so Denise has a full plate, so to speak. Perhaps she really burns a ton of calories while running around after all those kids, or maybe she’s just not eating enough. Who knows. I still don’t think she’s too thin, but prove me wrong, people.

What I do know is this … OMG, Botox.

Denise Richards

Denise Richards

Denise Richards

Photos courtesy of WENN

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84 Responses to “Denise Richards & her ‘active lifestyle’ don’t get why you think she’s too thin”

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  1. Just Me says:

    I was just reading an article on Huffpo from a few days ago. Her face is even gaunt. I agree, she does look unhealthy. She looks much better in these pics, but then, she’s wearing full makeup and her hair is big and covers her arms.

    IDK if I can add links – but this is the article I’m referring to with the scary skinny pic:

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/24/denise-richards-photo_n_3147850.html

    I’ve always thought Denise was beautiful, but the sunless tanner ages her here.

  2. lucy2 says:

    “I’m such an advocate for health and fitness”…says the woman who chose to marry a walking CDC emergency.

  3. Nemesis says:

    What’s going on with that big thick line on her forehead?

    • Lflips says:

      She’s always had that; I’ve noticed some people just seem to have a vein you can see in their forehead.

    • Dinah says:

      Overly botoxed ladies often have those pronounced veins. I think when you have natural tone to your forehead muscles, you don’t see them. When those muscles a paralyzed flat, the veins are more visible. Many Hollywood ladies sport these veins… I can’t understand the frozen face, but it’s de rigueur, for sure. LOL.

      • Lulu.T.O. says:

        Botox has nothing to do with a prominent forehead vein

      • Kim says:

        Well my vien is larger and I have never had botox oh and I am overweight too.

      • lisa2 says:

        Glad somebody else pointed that out. It is some dumb urban legion. Many of the women accused of overbotoxed faces have had that forehead vein way before botox became in fashion. I think people say it too often and most of the time they are wrong. It is just a vein, and for some women/men when they get very emotional the vein gets bigger and more pronounced.

        nothing to do with botox most of the time.

      • Marie Antoinette Jr. says:

        Me too, Kim. And mine gets bigger when I drink alcohol.

      • Annette says:

        Botox CAN make forehead veins more pronouced…botox causes muscle atrophy, so if someone already has prominant veins they can be more visible with botox, because they layer of tissue over them is thinner, it’s not rocket science. Of course it’s also more obvious on a thin person like Denise.

    • wiffie says:

      When I smile big, I get that huge vein. Sucks.

      • Sapphire says:

        I think she’s too thin, but more prominently a bad case of LA Face. Stop this! You look like aliens to the rest of the planet

  4. Celia says:

    What the hell is going on with her forehead?!!!

  5. Jenny says:

    I don’t know that I would describe her as scary thin, but I think she could stand to gain a few lbs. As women age their faces tend to get thinner anyhow and being on the verge of too thin exacerbates that.

  6. gogoGorilla says:

    I think the tan is an atrocity but otherwise she does not look “scary skinny” to me here. Her bodyfat IS low but she doesn’t look that much different than a lot of women at my gym. Her legs might just be more naturally skinny (I have a set of those toothpicks, sigh).

    • irishserra says:

      Agreed. The color is more alarming than the physique. She looks healthy to me, albeit a little aged.

    • Chicagogurl says:

      From witnessing it time and time again with friends who have a chaotic household (too many kids and pets) I bet she’s eating when she can, grabbing a few bites off the kids plates and then onto the next drama. She probably just has a very hectic home life.

  7. Itsjustblanche. says:

    She’s not super thin but the hair and dress are too girlish on her. Add about six inches to hr length of that dress and she woul be fine. Her hair is just way too young. She doesn’t need to cut it by it would look better a little less big.

    • Mrs.Darcy says:

      I agree, her style and hair are lagging a decade behind her age, and it makes her look scraggly.If she were wearing something slightly less skimpy she might look ok. And I like her hair better darker. I think the orange on orange is just bad luck, not a good day for her fashion wise but as Bedhead points out this lady is looking after lots of kids, not all her own, so I really don’t want to harp on her too much.

    • Tania says:

      I completely agree. It’s too young a look for her. Something modern and sophisticated would really suit her. I think she’s about 5 lbs above scary skinny.

    • Tania says:

      Looking at the dress, if she were less tan, had put her hair up and worn a pointy toe pump, that dress might have worked. It does look like the hemline was altered to be shorter.

  8. smee says:

    Can they Botox that throbbing vein off her forehead? Please?

    Sure she isn’t going over to her ex’s for some “herbal medication”?

  9. Kate says:

    Eh, she looks like she overtans, works out a lot, and is getting older, but I wouldn’t sound the alarm on this one. Like Bedhead says, she has a pretty full plate, plus she’s in a job where any excess weight or age usually slams doors in her face. Hollywood actresses generally can’t win no matter what they do (I know– too bad, so sad, but I can’t imagine being in that kind of position).

  10. Faye says:

    I don’t think she looks too thin. When you reach a certain age and are slender, you can start looking a little . . .rope-y, if that’s a word, especially in the arms. Not necessarily unhealthy. She seems like she’s tanned a lot in her life, and that affects the skin as well.

    She needs stop with the tanning and Botoxing, though. It just makes her look rough.

    Love her girls — they are so adorable!

    • Esmom says:

      Yeah she looks more fit than scary to me. Agree about the Botox — that vein! — and the tanning.

    • Tessa says:

      Yeah, I call it sinewy. You lose the superficial layer of fat under your skin and you look less healthy, but you aren’t, you’re just older. She looks fine to me.

      • I Choose Me says:

        I agree. I see a lot of muscle tone and she is markedly slimmer than before which may seem jarring as we’re used to seeing her with a bit more weight. But I’m not her doctor so I can’t say she’s unhealthy. I can however, comment on her tan. What shade is that supposed to be? Autumn sunrise? Burnt sienna? What?

      • Lulu.T.O. says:

        Brassy chestnut?

  11. Belle Epoch says:

    Her neck!!!

  12. Eleonor says:

    I don’t think she is painfully thin, à la Victoria Beckham, she looks extratoned, and probably aging and too much sun make her looks worst.

  13. Jess says:

    I remember thinking she looked really skinny years and years ago when watching Drop Dead Gorgeous, especially her arms. I think it’s just her body shape. She might be a little under her ideal weight right now, but it’s probably just a normal fluctuation. If she had a long-term issue she’d be looking a lot more haggard by 42.

    The veins on her forehead are weird though. I know people who get that when they’re incredibly angry and letting loose, but never whilst smiling. I wonder if it’s some weird botox side effect?

  14. Lulu.T.O. says:

    She is wasting away. Her neck says it all. I watched a few episodes of her reality show, and she was forever on a diet and getting on the scale, so I don’t think she is a naturally thin person and is actually quite big boned. I don’t think this is healthy weight loss.

  15. Lemony says:

    I agree that she is under a lot of stress. It is aging her, unfortunately.
    However, with the fake tan, hair, & Botox she is approaching Real Housewives territory.
    Her & Brandy Glanville should start a spin off-it’d be fascinating! The First Wives Club of Orange County?

    • EmmaStoneWannabe says:

      Might need a different title, neither of them are married. How about ‘Skinny Bitches of the O.C.’

    • NerdMomma says:

      Of course she’s aging, she’s getting older! That said, I think your idea about her and Brandi having a First Wives show would be amazing. I would completely watch that!

  16. Elisabeth says:

    the zombie apocalypse has started!!!

  17. Annie says:

    I wish her the best, really. She’s a good person. Offering his exe’s kids a loving and safe home while he and his crazy ex are cracked out of their minds, especially after everything he put her through? The abuse, the cheating, the lies. She has no obligation to do that. Not the slightest. Not her problem. But she did it anyway, and if those babies have any semblance of a normal childhood, it’ll be thanks to her. If it were me I would want nothing to do with Charlie and I’d barely let him see our own kids. Don’t even ask me to clean your other mess when you were such a shitty father to our own kids. She really does have a good heart and I hope she gets the help she needs. She always seemed to me, after watching her E! show, that she has tons of unresolved issues, and breaking up Richie Sambora’s marriage really messed with her head.

    • Jayna says:

      Where did you get the idea she broke up the marriage? Heather left him because of emails she found to his ex-assistant or photos of her. Heather and Denise were hanging out together after she left Richie. Down the road Denise dated Richie, and the flak on her was she went out with her good friend’s soon-to-be-ex. Denise said their friendship was already over because Heather hired Charley’s divorce lawyer (I think their divorce was still going on or postdivorce issues) when Denise asked her not to and she did anyway.

      • Annie says:

        She did actually, and she has admitted to it herself, especially after it was over with Richie. Search the Youtube video where she talks about it. She tells the interviewer something like “What do I know about life? I stole my best friend’s husband.” And she seems genuinly sorry, gets all teary eyed and uncomfortable. She and Heather were BFFs and before she knew it, she was sleeping with Richie. For a while she got tons of shit from Bon Jovi fans.
        Sure, other things ruined their relationship, but Denise was the biggest problem.

  18. Nicolette says:

    Being overly tan and too thin is aging her. Why are her veins so prominent on her forehead?

  19. Jayna says:

    She’s not too thin in an unhealthy way, but she’s always had a few more pounds to her before and looked far better. She is getting that bobblehead look that especially isn’t attractive for a 40-year-old with a few lines. Sometimes people go up and down in weight. I’m sure she will put back on a few more pounds.

  20. serena says:

    She is thin but fit, so not unhealthy. Still, her forehead scream for help ugh. Don’t do it Denise.

    By the way that’s Lola not Sam.

  21. Shelly says:

    I think she is just a healthy person. But she needs a hair and tanning intervention, stat! She is so naturally pretty, I don’t know why she colors herself orange and does THIS to her hair. Baffling!

  22. anneesezz says:

    Why do these stick thin people always say things like “I love ice cream and I just ate a grilled cheese sandwich.” No you didn’t. Next year it will be “my struggle with bulimia” on the cover of People. Seriously though, she married Charlie Sheen so she is obviously not too bright. When I look at her I always think – lights are on but nobody’s home.

  23. Sloane Wyatt says:

    There’s a blind going ’round about a Mom who’s hitting the Pepsi too hard, and many think it’s Denise.

    If it’s her, she’ll bounce back once she backs away from it as the blind says the Mom doesn’t have a full on addiction – just a weakness she overindulges in from time to time.

    • Marie Antoinette Jr. says:

      Without a doubt.

      You know there’s a reason other than the kids she’s still in such close contact with Charlie.

  24. siobhan says:

    She was so beautiful when she was younger. Something has happened to her face that is not from aging.

  25. Joanna says:

    You guys should have seen her on Access Hollywood last night. She looked scary skinny and gaunt, worse than what these pictures show. She is too skinny!

  26. judyjudy says:

    She looks tired.

  27. emmie_a says:

    I didn’t even recognize Denise’s daughter — I’ve never seen her smile before. In all the pap photos she always looks miserable.

  28. EmmaStoneWannabe says:

    That big hair is covering up her clavicle bone. Look at it in other recent pictures…NOT healthy.

  29. Dawn says:

    I think she is just too thin, she needs to gain about 5 pounds and she’ll look great. I never liked her much until I watched her short lived reality show and thought she was a good mom and a good daughter and a good ex-wife which Charlie Sheen also alludes to whenever asked!

  30. Boomboom says:

    I think she needs to sue whoever gave her that nosejob . It ruined her looks completely . She forever has some weirdness going on around her nose/ inbetween her eyes because they chopped too much off her nose and it messed up the structure of her face . That vien is prob all charlies fault !
    I agree, in three months she will be coming out with a “my struggle with anorexia” story . Yes I am sure the one bite of grilled cheese that you eat is what you eat all day , not exactly the same as eating grilled cheese all of the time.
    No one is this thin without drugs or extreme excersicizing .

    • Lulu.T.O. says:

      Or just not eating.

    • Jilli says:

      Some people ARE this lean naturally. I don’t understand why some people just cannot believe it. Every woman in my family is even leaner than Denise and no one is dieting, starving or “over exercising”. I have two sisters older than Denise who have given birth twice each both of whom are more ripped than this woman. Some people are naturally lean. I cannot speak for Denise.

  31. She is definatelyunhealthy skinny. .she is not this way naturally whether its stress or illness…who knows! And it loooks particularly aging on older women being this gaunt! Its sad really but you have to be messed to marry someone like charlie sheen and be in this industry for so long. Sad she seems sweet but three kids and an ex addict plus adoption issues that come with cross cultural adoption….so many things going on. I hope she gets healthier soon. She is smart , the dress hides her low body weight well as she can.

  32. Dinah says:

    She has lost a lot of body fat, maybe too much for her age, but she has great muscle tone. So while she is thin, I don’t think she has yet teetered into worrisomely unhealthy-thin. She’s probably weights/pilates/no grain- carb.

    It’s as if she’s trying to emulate Madonna’s body type. And we all know how that’s working out for her, LOL.

  33. MojoRising says:

    I don’t see how she’s any thinner than GOOP. Lainey had a behind the scenes of GOOP for a magazine shoot and she looked skeletal. If people are going to harsh on Denise they need to harsh the same on GOOP. And aside from that, I can’t imagine the stress of being an ex to Charlie Sheen.

    • Holly says:

      My first thought on seeing these pics was “She looks like a heroin chic/broken-down GOOP!”

      Whatever is happening with her rib cage is positively Kelly Ripa and she makes Posh Beckham look slightly curvy too!

  34. Lisa says:

    I still mix her up with Rebecca Gayheart in my head. I hate that she has that martyred “Everyone’s to mean to meeee, why is everyone so meaaaaan” attitude toward this.

  35. Onyx XV says:

    I agree with other posters who feel her weight looks fine but the fake tan has got to go. I remember back when she had that stupid reality show on the E! channel, she had someone come to her house to spray tan her. She seems to really swear by that, but she needs to either let it go or find a better product. Her skin looks horrible.

  36. KellyinSeattle says:

    I agree that she has no real sense of classy style…it’s always so trendy and girlish. I’m glad she’s there for her kids, even though she procreated with Charlie Sheen.

  37. novaraen says:

    It’s not that you’re too skinny…it’s that there are two bulgy veins sticking out of your forehead. You look a hot mess girl and need about 10-15 lbs back on your body.

  38. Heathers says:

    I am so SICK of all of these underweight celebs trying to deflect the issue by saying something like, “Oh, I have kids. I have daughters. Think about THAT before you talk!!!” And I’m all, wha…??? What do your daughters have to do with the fact that you look unhealthy and people are noticing? I swear, celebrities think we’re as stupid as they are. That aside, I don’t think Richards looks like she’s unwell, she’s using, or she’s really sickly. She looks like she spends 450 hours a day at the gym. Yes, people. You can overdo exercise like you can overdo anything else. *so says the woman who has lived with fitness gurus, bulimics, and anorexics ALL her life*

  39. lena horne says:

    I used to not like her-but i have really cone to respect her in the last few years, trying to stay sane with that crazy charlie and maintaining a fam
    ily for her kids.

  40. taxi says:

    Sad to see make-up on a 7 year old, or even a 9 year old. Denise doesn’t look good.

  41. TMB says:

    I’m not going to throw to much shade her way because she practically raises her ex-husband’s children. Not sure how many woman would be willing to do that. She does need to eat more, 5 kids will make you run around like crazy, food is important to keep up.

  42. Crackberry says:

    on her reality show she was much bigger
    she even complained she couldn’t lose weight

  43. blaize says:

    I once somewhere that she’s 5’6″. Judging by these photos, and the fact that the camera adds 10 pounds, I’m thinking she weighs around 110-115 in real life. Which isn’t underweight for her, but it is on the low end of her BMI.

    She could have some kind of earing disorder, or her weight loss could be due to a combination of stress and a healthy, active lifestyle. I just don’t like how our culture always assumes that if a female celebrity goes from weighing 130 to 115 that she MUST have an eating disorder. I do agree that she looked better when she had more curves though- thinness makes her look her age. Before she always looked younger than her age.

  44. Mia says:

    She looks like she’s ill. Denise has always looked like she had an athletic and healthy figure. Like she had to work out to stay a certain size. But now the entire circumference of her body is similar to Victoria Beckham’s! And she’s 42. It’s not easy to lose weight at that age in the first place let alone going from athletic to heroin chic. Whatever caused her weight loss I doubt its natural or healthy.

  45. Meanchick says:

    Boo Hoo. Some women in hollywood equate very thin with very young-looking and it never looks good. By the by, WHY is that chld wearing makeup? Also, she adopted the third child and CHOSE to look after the twins, but I’m sure she’s being paid for it, so no, I don’t think she’s stressed or pressured about anyting other than trying to stay relevant in a youth obsessed town. Stress is for the woman with five kids, no child support and a crappy job.

    • Joanna says:

      yeah, i love how everyone is oh, what a great woman she is! heck for the money she gets for watching those kids, i’d do it too! plus she has at least one nanny that i’ve seen. she strikes me as the fakest person on earth.

  46. Blenheim says:

    I’d lose the tan if I was her.

  47. Mary says:

    It must be a lot of work to take care of all those kids! I think Denise looks fine. I like the tan too!