Get the best of POPSUGAR
Fitness — in your inbox!

Help us customize your newsletter by selecting your interests (optional):

Celebrity Food Megan Fox Yoga

Megan Fox In Allure: Admits to OCD and Going a Week Without Eating

Are You a Major Germaphobe Like Megan Fox?

May 18, 2010

In the June issue of Allure, Megan Fox cops to having obsessive-compulsive disorder, which has turned her into a major germaphobe — especially when it comes to public bathrooms and restaurant silverware.

"This is a sickness, I have an illness. Every time someone uses a bathroom and they flush, all the bacteria is shot into the air . . . Putting my mouth [on silverware] where a million other mouths have been, just knowing all the bacteria that you carry in your mouth? Ucch!"

I'm thinking that Megan must keep silverware on her at all times because in the same interview she said that she'd rather "starve to death" before cooking. I've heard of people who didn't like cooking, but Megan definitely takes the cake on this one.

Tell me . . .

20 Comments

2 years 49 weeks

"Every time someone uses a bathroom and they flush, all the bacteria is shot into the air . . ." That is absolutely true. GirlOverboard is right, Mythbusters did test this....a lot of bacteria is shot in the air when you flush. They also tested how much bacteria is spread if a person has a runny nose and isn't careful about spreading the germs. It was shocking. I think Megan Fox does have some valid concerns.....I'm not a real germaphobe but I don't think it's wrong to err on the side of caution. Trackmyfit, eating from a plate your dog has licked? That's disgusting. Your child wouldn't be licking their butt and then your plate. A dog would. A dog isn't a person. Glad to know you wash your hands...with soap, though!

trackmyfit 2 years 50 weeks

hahaha, I've actually finished eating even after I caught my dog licking off my plate. But...she's my dog. It may as well have been my child. But I still wash my hands - with soap - every time I use the restroom.

Spectra 3 years 1 day

God no, I'm not germophobic at all. I'm a microbiologist--germs are absolutely everywhere, so you pretty much can't avoid them. As long as you aren't licking the floors or your cell phone or sucking on money or something like that, you aren't as vulnerable as you think. Megan's problem sounds more OCD than anything though...restaurant silverware is sterilized; it sounds like it's just the concept of using communitly property that skeeves her out. As long as you wash your hands before you eat and after you use the restroom, you're pretty much doing the most you can do to avoid the harmful stuff. Besides, exposure to microbes helps boost your natural immunity. And as long as you have good intestinal flora, harmful microbes will have a hard time colonizing in your body and making you ill.

GirlOverboard 3 years 6 days

For the record, the toilet DOES spew fluid into the air upon flushing. High school science projects aside (yes - every year at my school there was somebody who held petri dishes at various heights above the toilet to collect airborne fecal matter) in a lot of cases, if you've ever flushed before pulling up your pants or when wearing a skirt/shorts then sometimes you can actually FEEL the spray - and it does travel further than what you can feel. I've also read articles that point out just how much fecal bacteria spreads throughout the home (including on toothbrushes), most likely as a result of what is tossed into the air upon flushing. Mythbusters even did an episode in which they tested toothbrushes for fecal matter, which turned up positive - however, none had a level high enough to really be of any concern. Like it or not, poo is in the air! That being said, while concerns about it aren't invalid, it's ridiculous to spend too much time being scared. We do need exposure to germs to an extent and the more we try to separate ourselves from them, the lower our defenses to them will be. Practice good, basic hygiene (wash your hands before meals and after using the bathroom/touching handrails on the bus, sneeze/cough into the crook of your arm, bathe regularly),eat and drink well, don't stress yourself out too often and you'll be fine.

cotedazur 3 years 6 days

Anon #14, you're completely right. And in the context of OCD, I sound really insensitive saying "that's just crazy" about someone who may have a legitimate disorder. I guess I'm just not a big Megan Fox fan :)

3 years 6 days

and yes, it does make intimacy and other bodily fluids an interesting challenge ... assuming their obsession is cleanliness. not everyone who has ocd has germ issues ...

3 years 6 days

i don't know if she actually has ocd as she doesn't mention any rituals ... just to clarify, whether or not there's scientific data regarding germs being airborne after flushing a toilet ... it doesn't matter. someone with ocd can catastrophize anything that scares them ... it's a disorder. seems crazy and not rational to the average person, but to someone with ocd, it's very real and can disable one from doing certain things ... such as eating out at restaurants ... my boyfriend has ocd.

inlove23 3 years 6 days

Hmm. That makes sense cotedazur since it's her own pee, and it's sterile because it's hers. I'm defiantly the opposite of germaphobe. Like others said it's what the immune system is for.

cotedazur 3 years 6 days

Wait... "Every time someone uses a bathroom and they flush, all the bacteria is shot into the air . . . " Is there any scientific information to back this up? Also, urine is sterile, so there should be no harmful bacteria in it. The bacteria on feces is not airborne. I'm not a germaphobe, but I'm a big fan of science. I wash my hands often and I clean my kitchen with bleach. But honestly, being afraid of restaurant silverware or flushing toilets? That's just crazy.

LaurenG22 3 years 6 days

dirt don't hurt.

bluesarahlou 3 years 6 days

I'm not a germaphobe...I work with those little bugs every day!

Antioxidant 3 years 6 days

I am certainly not a germaphobe. I do wash my hands before and after eating, and after using the restroom, but those are just healthy habits. What I don't understand is when people use a tissue paper to cover a door handle when opening a door. That bothers me more than anything.

Bettye Wayne 3 years 1 week

I love how the magazine cover says, 'dirty mind, clean hands.' How does she have sex, doesn't she know that most men don't wash their hands before holding their penis to pee?

sham28 3 years 1 week

I clean stuff and wash my hands and sneeze into my inner elbow. I know the world is very germy but I'm also trying to protect myself from crazy drivers, STDs, and immune system-crushing stress. Not quite as scared of bacteria.

bethinabox 3 years 1 week

Nope. Like others have said, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. If you don't expose yourself to any germs, your immune system doesn't learn how to fight the germs and will be useless if you come across something bad. Not a germaphobe and I haven't had anything worse than a cold in years.

tlsgirl 3 years 1 week

Yeah, I do it. I try not to, but sometimes I can't help myself.

wackdoodle 3 years 1 week

Yes. What doesn't kill me makes me very ill and miserable. I wash my hands after I use the bathroom, after I touch raw meat and before I eat or touch my face. Having worked as a public servant and watched the nasty things that people do with their hands before they decide to touch money or try to touch you or touch the handrails or seats on the bus, I will continue to be a germaphobe. Especially here in MSRA-laden SF. Prior to being a city bus driver I would go without gloves on the bus, I would pop a piece of gum in my mouth while riding the bus and so on. After getting the job and seeing how poorly and infrequently the buses were cleaned and how nasty the passengers were (using the bathroom, picky their butts or noses and worse) I immediately stopped eating, drinking, and touching anything except for things that I had cleaned first on the bus. This has carried over to not touching handles or certain high traffic areas in my apartment building or at other people's homes. Stranger this new behaviour has resulted in fewer colds, no cases of the flu and finally no bouts of stomach virus. I have also had no weird skin breakouts and no cases of pink eye since I began being a germaphobe.

Berzerker 3 years 1 week

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. I let my immune system take care of most potential hazards. Besides, if I get so sickly to the point that I have to worry about catching an illness from washed silverware, put a bullet in my head.