AnnaLynne McCord was one of Hollywood’s hottest young actresses in the late 2000s thanks to roles in soapy hits like Nip/Tuck and 90210.
But in recent years, the 36-year-old has made more headlines for her personal life than her acting career.
From her controversial relationship with English rugby star Danny Cipriani to coming out as a sex addict and revealing her battle with dissociative identity disorder, McCord has certainly led a tumultuous life.
McCord’s first notable acting role came when she was a teenager in the popular telenovela American Heiress in 2007.
Her career skyrocketed from there, leading to a scandalous stint in FX’s Nip/Tuck before she landed the part of Naomi Clark in The CW’s 90210 reboot, where she quickly became the show’s breakout star.
AnnaLynne McCord has had a wild life both in front of and behind the camera; pictured May 7 in Bel Air, California
AnnaLynne’s first notable role was as a scheming schoolgirl in Nip/Tuck
She found mainstream fame as the sensitive yet socially-ambitious rich girl Naomi Clark in 90210 between 2008-2013
Abusive childhood
Despite her success on the small screen, McCord’s childhood trauma cast a dark shadow over her seemingly glamorous life in the spotlight.
Her hardships started at a young age, having been raised in an Atlanta trailer park with her devoutly Christian parents, mother Shari and pastor dad David.
McCord, along with her sisters Angel and Rachel, were homeschooled and forbidden from watching TV outside of Little House On The Prairie.
‘My parents believed in strict “discipline,” as they called it — I would call it abuse. The punishments were painful and ritualistic,’ she said in Cosmopolitan in 2014.
‘We would have to bend over the bed, sometimes with our pants down, arms outstretched, and get spanked — with a ruler in our younger years and later with a paddle that my parents bought when they thought the ruler wasn’t strong enough.’
In 2019, McCord told People magazine that she discovered she’d been abused as a child while being treated for PTSD, which activated her repressed memories.
‘I was in treatment for PTSD and memories of child sexual abuse came back for years all the way until I was 11 years,’ she told the publication.
‘I don’t have anything until around 5. Then from 5 to 11, I recount incidents throughout. Then when I was 13, I have a singled-out memory that was one thing, but I don’t have the sense of anything else at that time.’
She later confirmed that she’d developed dissociative identity disorder — a mental illness characterized by the presence of two or more distinct personality traits — to cope with the trauma of the abuse.
AnnaLynne was raised in a trailer park by strict Christian parents. The star, along with her sisters Angel and Rachel, were homeschooled and describe their childhood as ‘abusive’
In 2019, McCord said she discovered she’d been abused as a child while being treated for PTSD, which activated her repressed memories
Dissociative identity disorder
McCord said that she had developed different personalities — or ‘alters’ — due to the condition.
She claims that her first alter appeared when she was 16. The personality was allegedly a 13-year-old version of herself, and she described it as ‘dark, cynical and jaded.’
Her other alters included ‘Autopilot Anna,’ who had the ‘perfect tailored response at all times,’ a loving and nurturing ‘Earth Mother,’ and ‘Domino’, ‘a very salacious young lady — a toughie.’
McCord spent years dealing with suicidal thoughts and battling five different alter egos, which she says have now ‘largely disappeared’ after she sought help for PTSD in 2017.
‘I had not been suicidal for years. But my 13-year-old self told me that she didn’t want to integrate with me,’ she previously told Dailymail.com.
‘She said, “I don’t want to integrate with you, I ruined your life. I have to go away. I can’t live anymore, I can’t be here anymore.”‘
While discussing her journey with DailyMail.com, AnnaLynne said it was like having ‘different mess inside of me’.
‘They would talk to me and that was really fun to keep up with, just super fun,’ she joked. ‘They’re very colorful, a roundtable in there.’
Dissociative identity disorder, or DID, is a mental condition in which a person is inflicted with various identities which can control their behavior at different times. It can also can cause memory loss, delusions or depression.
McCord first spoke out about her diagnosis in a blog post for Dr. Daniel Amen’s website Amen Clinics in early 2021.
At the time, she explained that being an actress only amplified her problems.
McCord recalled starring in the horror movie Excision back in 2012, in which she played a ‘disturbed and delusional high school student’ named Pauline, and she said the role made things even worse.
‘I played a very cerebral, disturbed, strange little girl that was very close to who I feel I am on the inside,’ she shared.
‘It was very exposing, very confronting, probably a bit re-traumatizing without realizing it.
‘The crazy thing about it was that I wrapped that film at 2 a.m. on a Tuesday and had to be a happy, crazy, Beverly Hills blonde bombshell on Wednesday at noon. I couldn’t find her, she was not accessible. I was dark, I was very deep into this character Pauline and I couldn’t get [out].’
McCord later developed dissociative identity disorder, a mental illness characterized by the presence of two or more distinct personality traits; seen in 2007 in Hollywood
The actress said that she had created different personalities due to the condition, including a 13-year-old version of herself; seen in 2010 in NYC
Raped at age 18
Then, when she was filming a traumatic rape scene in 90210, she realized she needed professional help.
‘My whole body like just went into panic mode as if I was living out my life on camera,’ she told Good Morning America previously.
‘These moments were coming to light through my work. I didn’t understand anything about the mind or the brain at the time, I was just trying to do my job and I couldn’t,’ she continued. ‘And it was very scary … But I found a way out.’
McCord also previously claimed that she had been raped at age 18 by a friend when she first moved to Los Angeles and was auditioning for acting gigs.
‘At first, I felt so disoriented and numb, I closed my eyes and pretended to be asleep,’ she told Cosmopolitan at the time.
‘I wondered if I had done something to give him the wrong idea. I felt afraid of making him angry,’ she added.
McCord said that she was raped at age 18 by a friend when she first moved to Los Angeles and was auditioning for acting gigs
‘I felt so disoriented and numb, I closed my eyes and pretended to be asleep,’ she said of the ordeal
Addicted to sex
The 90210 star has also revealed that in the past she was addicted to sex and S&M, admitting that she treated her body ‘like a brothel.’
Speaking on the Braving The Way With Dr Fletch podcast, she revealed shocking details of her former S&M lifestyle.
‘I used to say to people, “Yes, your body is a temple, my body is a brothel”. I had a morbid sense of humor about it.
‘I got off on the fact [that] sex is this thing I could have all day, every day and never get tired of, and no one could keep up with me.’
McCord confessed that she enjoyed kinky romps while dating Prison Break actor Dominic Purcell on and off between 2014 and 2020.
She described her sex with the Australian actor as ‘explosive’, telling Giddy that ‘Dom was my dom.’
Discussing the sex addiction, she explained how when she discovered her libido she realized ‘sex is amazing’ — and it became an all consuming addiction for her.
‘I didn’t do drugs or alcohol, I needed sex like a bottomless pit. I was ravenous.’
At the height of her addiction, the star had a purpose-built, 750lb steel bondage bed, complete with restraints, installed in her Los Angeles house.
The 90210 star has also revealed that in the past she was addicted to sex and S&M, admitting that she treated her body ‘like a brothel’
McCord confessed that she enjoyed kinky romps while dating Prison Break actor Dominic Purcell on and off between 2014 and 2020
She described her sex with the Australian actor as ‘explosive’, boasting: ‘Dom was my dom’
Dating Danny Cipriani
She’s now got her impulses under control thanks to therapy and meditation, and is in a serious relationship with English rugby star Danny Cipriani.
Unfortunately, her new romance hasn’t been smooth sailing.
In April, Cipriani’s estranged wife Victoria hit out at her husband’s declaration that he had found love with McCord.
The former sports star, 36, revealed he was in a relationship with McCord, in April with a series of affectionate photos taken while the couple enjoyed a romantic holiday in Egypt together.
His estranged wife Victoria, 42, slated her husband for ‘moving on’ just six months after they split.
After posting that it was ‘nice to see my husband has moved on’, she added: ‘But his belongings and clothes in our house, in our drawers, still haven’t moved on.’
However, the post was deleted shortly afterward.
In a direct message to Cipriani, she added: ‘Can you send me a miracle, please? Can you answer the lawyer’s letter so I can keep my car? All the best. Lots of love your ever patient wife.’
The photos of Danny and AnnaLynne kissing and cozying up to each other on a spiritual retreat in Egypt came just six months after Danny announced his divorce.
Danny and Victoria, who were married for three years, called time on their marriage in November following a series of ‘rows over text messages’ she saw on his phone.
A source close to Victoria slammed the former rugby star for ‘showing off his girlfriend’ while there are still a number ‘loose ends’ to fix in their marriage – including the fact they are not yet legally divorced.
‘He has walked out on her and now he’s showing off his new girlfriend, it is not easy for Victoria although she does not want him back,’ an insider told MailOnline.
‘She’s having a few financial problems because of the Mercedes that is in his name.
‘The last time she saw him was in February when he turned up to collect a pair of shoes. All his stuff is still in the Kent home, so he hasn’t really moved in that aspect,’ they continued.
‘It is all going to end in divorce and lawyers are involved, but it has been only since November that they split.
‘Danny appears to be showing off his new girlfriend, but there are several loose ends to be tied up in his marriage. She is still his wife.’
The pictures of Danny and AnnaLynne confirmed suspicions that the pair were romantically linked after they made their red carpet debut at an event for skincare brand Clarins in Los Angeles.
The Sun reported that the pair had known each other for over ten years but started ‘hooking up’ at the start of March.
Like his new girlfriend, Cipriani has had his own issues when it comes to sex.
In his explosive memoir, the former footballer admitted to having threesomes and bedding three women a day.
She’s now in a serious relationship with English rugby star Danny Cipriani; pictured together in March in LA
Danny revealed he was in a relationship with McCord in April with a series of affectionate photos taken while the couple enjoyed a romantic holiday in Egypt together
Cipriani’s estranged wife Victoria hit out at her husband’s declaration that he had found love with the Hollywood starlet
In a now deleted post, his estranged wife Victoria, 42, slated her husband for ‘moving on’ just six months after the split
Poem to Putin
In 2022, McCord was mocked online after posting a ‘cringeworthy’ poem that told of her desire to have been Russian President Vladimir Putin’s mother in order to prevent war in Ukraine.
The 2:20 long video went viral and generated tens of millions of views within days of being posted.
‘I’m so sorry I was not your mother,’ she said. ‘If I was your mother, you would have been so loved, held in the arms of joyous light.’
Addressing the backlash, McCord appeared to show empathy for the Russian leader by suggesting that she too could have been a dictator if her life had taken a different path.
‘I know how I could easily have moved in the direction of becoming a dictator myself,’ she told BuzzFeed News.
‘If certain circumstances of my life were different, were I a little less bent toward healing and more toward vindication, I could have been a darkly powerful person,’ she said.
In 2022, McCord was mocked online after posting a ‘cringeworthy’ poem that told of her desire to have been Russian President Vladimir Putin’s mother in order to prevent war in Ukraine
Addressing the backlash, McCord appeared to show empathy for the Russian leader by suggesting that she too could have been a dictator if her life had taken a different path; seen in 2021 in LA
‘I’m so sorry I was not your mother,’ she said of Putin. ‘If I was your mother, you would have been so loved, held in the arms of joyous light’; Putin pictured in 2022 in Moscow
McCord said she was motivated to share the poem after she woke up ‘in anguish’ over ‘the children of the war’ and the young Ukrainians who are experiencing war for the first time.
She told the outlet how she feels for ‘children who grow into adults and become people who do historically horrifying things’ adding that she personally understands ‘early life trauma.’
The blonde bombshell also told BuzzFeed that she believed her mission was to raise awareness about changes needed within ‘education systems’ to ‘protect children and stop creating dictators and abusers and enslavers and rapists and bullies.’
McCord suggested a ‘nervous system regulation practice’ be added as a ‘mandatory tool for young children to stop the pandemic of violence.’