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GCB Star Was Bullied for What?!

Kids can be cruel—just ask a certain beauty on ABC's new prime-time soap

By Marc Malkin Mar 28, 2012 1:41 PMTags
GCB, Mackinlee WaddellABC, Charley Gallay/WireImage

Kids are bullied for many reasons. Whether it's because of their ethnicity or sexual orientation, children can be cruel.

But even we were surprised to find out what one GCB starlet had to endure when she was in high school…

"When I was five, I had open heart surgery so I have a scar on my chest," Mackinlee Waddell, who plays McKinney Peacham on ABC's new hit prime-time soap, told me at the E!-sponsored premiere of Bully. "When I wore swimsuits—especially in middle school and freshman year in high school—people would be like, 'Oh, what's that?' and they would then kind of make fun of me. It always made me feel really different."

Thankfully, things changed. "I slowly started meeting other kids who had it and I got confidence," Waddell said. "I realized that things that made you different also make you special."

It's one of the reasons she attended the Bully premiere. "Kids can be cruel," Waddell said. "That's why it's so important to use celebrities and get people together and let kids know it's not OK to bully. Kids pay attention to celebrities."

Victoria Justice, who cohosted the premiere with The Soup funnyman Joel McHale and E! News' Giuliana Rancic and Jason Kennedy, said, "Be kind to one another, be more accepting of people who are different. We are all unique and all beautiful in our own way. It really is not about the outside. It's about what's going on inside."

Justice's Victorious star Avan Jogia is hoping to reach their show's core audience with his Straight But Not Narrow group for gay youth and their straight supporters.

"Basically what we say to kids in high school is, 'Hey, being gay is no big deal,' " Jogia said. "I grew up with gay culture all around me so it was never a thing for me. When I got into high school and realized it that was a thing for some kids, it shocked me and angered me."

Keep up the good work, everybody!