Money Scams, Plastic Surgery & Sugar Daddies: Inside 'Glee' Star Naya Rivera's Dark Past
![//naya rivera dark past pp](https://media.radaronline.com/brand-img/4Nwh2PsO6/480x251/2016/09/naya-rivera-dark-past-pp.jpg?position=top 480w, https://media.radaronline.com/brand-img/4Nwh2PsO6/640x335/2016/09/naya-rivera-dark-past-pp.jpg?position=top 640w, https://media.radaronline.com/brand-img/4Nwh2PsO6/768x402/2016/09/naya-rivera-dark-past-pp.jpg?position=top 768w, https://media.radaronline.com/brand-img/4Nwh2PsO6/1024x536/2016/09/naya-rivera-dark-past-pp.jpg?position=top 1024w, https://media.radaronline.com/brand-img/4Nwh2PsO6/1280x670/2016/09/naya-rivera-dark-past-pp.jpg?position=top 1280w, https://media.radaronline.com/brand-img/4Nwh2PsO6/1440x753/2016/09/naya-rivera-dark-past-pp.jpg?position=top 1440w, https://media.radaronline.com/brand-img/4Nwh2PsO6/1600x837/2016/09/naya-rivera-dark-past-pp.jpg?position=top 1600w, https://media.radaronline.com/brand-img/4Nwh2PsO6/2160x1130/2016/09/naya-rivera-dark-past-pp.jpg?position=top 2160w)
![//naya rivera dark past pp](https://media.radaronline.com/brand-img/ZOGYef6HG/480x315/2016/09/naya-rivera-dark-past-pp.jpg 480w, https://media.radaronline.com/brand-img/ZOGYef6HG/640x420/2016/09/naya-rivera-dark-past-pp.jpg 640w, https://media.radaronline.com/brand-img/ZOGYef6HG/768x504/2016/09/naya-rivera-dark-past-pp.jpg 768w, https://media.radaronline.com/brand-img/ZOGYef6HG/1024x672/2016/09/naya-rivera-dark-past-pp.jpg 1024w, https://media.radaronline.com/brand-img/ZOGYef6HG/1280x840/2016/09/naya-rivera-dark-past-pp.jpg 1280w, https://media.radaronline.com/brand-img/ZOGYef6HG/1440x945/2016/09/naya-rivera-dark-past-pp.jpg 1440w, https://media.radaronline.com/brand-img/ZOGYef6HG/1600x1050/2016/09/naya-rivera-dark-past-pp.jpg 1600w, https://media.radaronline.com/brand-img/ZOGYef6HG/2160x1418/2016/09/naya-rivera-dark-past-pp.jpg 2160w)
Naya Rivera may have played a bratty cheerleader on Glee, but off screen, her young life was anything but easy. The actress, 29, tells all about her painful years as busy child star, Hollywood reject and troubled teen in her new memoir, Sorry Not Sorry: Dreams, Mistakes and Growing Up.
Samsung AT&T Spring Fling – Arrivals
![//naya rivera dark past](https://media.radaronline.com/brand-img/dKjzq3-bH/332x500/2016/09/naya-rivera-dark-past-02.jpg 332w)
Born to a 20-year-old struggling actress, Rivera began acting in commercials and modeling at just seven months old. Eventually she starred in The Royal Family, and worked through 102-degree fevers. "Even though I was burning up, I nailed it," she boasts.
Glee cast arrives at JET nightclub in Las Vegas to celebrate Naya Rivera’s birthday
![//naya rivera dark past](https://media.radaronline.com/brand-img/ez8F8c4_u/333x500/2016/09/naya-rivera-dark-past-01.jpg 333w)
Nightly rehearsals at home often ended in a "screaming match," she says, because she just wanted to play like normal kids.
USA Today Honors Ashley Judd
![//naya rivera dark past](https://media.radaronline.com/brand-img/pfewBUXBt/332x500/2016/09/naya-rivera-dark-past-05.jpg 332w)
Here comes trouble: Rivera was constantly getting into fights at school, and was suspended twice before fifth grade. One time she was kicked out for making a "death threat" against another student. "Johnny smells so bad, sometimes I want him to die," she wrote in a note to a friend.
The Hollywood Reporter’s Women In Entertainment Breakfast Honoring Oprah Winfrey
![//naya rivera dark past](https://media.radaronline.com/brand-img/BbWYFvTQa/352x499/2016/09/naya-rivera-dark-past-03.jpg 352w)
Another time, she was suspended for biting a girl. "That b**** Sarah got off scot-free, even though she'd started it!" the star insists.
Naya Rivera looks sexy in sheer at The Nice Guy
![//naya rivera dark past](https://media.radaronline.com/brand-img/3PDnFwXal/333x500/2016/09/naya-rivera-dark-past-04.jpg 333w)
Rivera's parents were off and on, and once separated because her father had an affair while her mother was pregnant with her younger sister.
*EXCLUSIVE* Naya Rivera has a beautiful smile for the camera leaving Lianne La Havas concert NO Australia, New Zealand
![//naya rivera dark past](https://media.radaronline.com/brand-img/d7g1aEsS3/333x500/2016/09/naya-rivera-dark-past-07.jpg 333w)
In junior high, the actress stopped getting roles, and in a state of depression, stopped eating. "It gave me something to think about all day, and it was a secret I could obsess over without anyone else knowing about it," she reveals. By high school, she had developed full-blown anorexia.
Naya Rivera is a knock-out at Craig’s Restaurant **NO Australia, New Zealand**
- 'Just Such Youth': Jane Lynch Reflects on Her Time Working With Late 'Glee' Co-Stars Cory Monteith and Naya Rivera
- 30 Costars Who Had Infamous Fights on Sets: From Bill Murray and Lucy Liu to Tom Cruise and Rob Lowe
- ‘Glee’ Star Naya Rivera’s Family Settles Wrongful Death Lawsuit Over Actress' Tragic Drowning
![//naya rivera dark past](https://media.radaronline.com/brand-img/ILwpOCHTS/333x500/2016/09/naya-rivera-dark-past-08.jpg 333w)
Fortunately, by the end of sophomore year, she began eating healthily again. "I gained fifteen pounds and never looked back," she swears.
Naya Rivera and the cast of Glee go back to work at the Rose Bowl
![//naya rivera dark past](https://media.radaronline.com/brand-img/D5w4Pdxok/333x500/2016/09/naya-rivera-dark-past-09.jpg 333w)
AT 18, Rivera finally had access to her child acting money, and promptly bought breast implants against her parents' wishes. "I'd always been made fun of for being flat-chested," she remembers.
Naya Rivera stops by the Michael Kors Fashion Show
![//naya rivera dark past](https://media.radaronline.com/brand-img/urlmqr1KR/333x500/2016/09/naya-rivera-dark-past-10.jpg 333w)
When the star was 14, her father lost his job and the family struggled financially. "For a while, we applied for government assistance for health insurance, but then putting enough food on the table became a stretch," she says, adding that her mom would write checks she wasn't sure would clear.
Naya Rivera Has A Busy Day In West Hollywood
![//naya rivera dark past](https://media.radaronline.com/brand-img/LZ337sHW-/378x500/2016/09/naya-rivera-dark-past-13.jpg 378w)
From age 15, Rivera began helping her family out with money from acting savings. "I just think they didn't have any other choice," she explains. "I wasn't bitter about it at all."
Naya Rivera gets her makeup done at Blushington in Weho
![//naya rivera dark past](https://media.radaronline.com/brand-img/jjyuEfEzx/333x500/2016/09/naya-rivera-dark-past-11.jpg 333w)
After blowing all her money at 18, Rivera struggled to survive in her own apartment with various waitressing and sales jobs. She began to depositing empty envelopes for quick cash, but the banks caught on.
Stars at the 23rd Annual Race To Erase MS Gala
![//naya rivera dark past](https://media.radaronline.com/brand-img/-DcO1SiDx/333x500/2016/09/naya-rivera-dark-past-12.jpg 333w)
At 20, Rivera got a job at Hooters, and began dating an older man named Barry who gave her money. When the man wouldn't leave her alone, her dad threatened him. "Watching my father do this, and knowing that I'd put him in a position that made him both angry and uncomfortable, was one of the most humiliating experiences of my life," she confesses.
Naya Rivera attends her book signing for ‘Sorry Not Sorry’
![//naya rivera dark past](https://media.radaronline.com/brand-img/cRh46QuI-/357x500/2016/09/naya-rivera-dark-past-06.jpg 357w)
After a brief stint nannying and studying at a film school in New York, the star decided to quit acting and move to the Big Apple permanently. Her mother convinced her to give Hollywood six more months — and during this time, she landed her breakout role in Glee.
We pay for juicy info! Do you have a story for RadarOnline.com? Email us at tips@radaronline.com, or call us at 800-344-9598 any time, day or night.