Maureen McCormick "Hit Rock Bottom" Before Her Faith Led Her to the Love of Her Life

Oct 16, 2025 by apost team

Trigger Warning: This article contains mentions of eating disorders that may be troubling for some readers.

Maureen McCormick was the epitome of the girl next door during her teenage years, and the appellation has stuck with her decades after she first played the role that earned her the designation. Maureen became famous when she played Marcia Brady, the eldest daughter of the Brady family, in the ABC hit series “The Brady Bunch.” The TV series focused on the blended Brady family, headed by Mike Brady, played by Robert Reed, and Carol Martin, played by Florence Henderson, and their six children. 

Maureen was the perfect daughter of the family and enjoyed her role. She had a near-perfect life as Marcia Brady, but her life couldn’t be farther away from that. Incidentally, the innocence and beauty that her character was known for were the same factors that contributed to Maureen’s issues as she grew older. 

The teenager struggled with the comparisons between herself and her on-screen character, feeling she fell short. She wanted to live as the pretty girl next door in real life, so she resorted to upholding Hollywood beauty standards in her everyday life. That soon set her on the path of bulimia. The actress spoke to PEOPLE about how her eating disorder started after she reentered a public high school at 17.

Apart from her eating disorder, Maureen also battled cocaine addiction, which she eventually overcame. Despite all of the hardships and challenges in life that she has withered, she found love and has since credited her faith as the thing that binds her and her husband together. Keep reading to learn more about Maureen and how she found the love of her life.

In her memoir, "Here's the Story: Surviving Marcia Brady and Finding My True Voice," McCormick referred to her life after her notable role as Marcia Brady as "a whirlwind of experimentation and searching that evolved into a grim spiral of avoidance, denial, and self-destruction." McCormick's decade-long battle with bulimia started when she enrolled in public high school following the end of "The Brady Bunch." She recalls her first purging experience in an interview with PEOPLE: "I was with some girls." The actress said:

"We had a gallon of ice cream, and someone mentioned how we could eat it all and not gain weight. It seemed ideal. Once I started (purging), it was hard to stop."

Although her polished image in the spotlight didn't start her eating disorder, the pressures of appearing beautiful on-screen did affect it. She remembered: "I had to be in a bathing suit," McCormick continued:

"That made me so self-conscious."

At the time, McCormick began dabbling with substances, a habit she developed from a boyfriend. The dazzling actress hid the darkest parts of her life for years, but her polished image quickly shattered once her secret was revealed. The actress confessed to the Today Show:

"I hit rock bottom when I was doing "The Brady Brides.""

She elaborated:

"I was supposed to be at the studio, screen testing to pick the guy that would play my husband. At this time, I have been up for three days doing coke and was playing solitaire in my closet. My agent had to go the sixth floor, climb into my place, tear off my clothes and get me in the show. He said, 'You have to get to Paramount right now, and you have a problem." I couldn't hide it anymore. Everyone knew."

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McCormick battled her addiction and eating disorder for many years. Unfortunately, the consequences of her addictions have wreaked havoc on her career. She admitted to Entertainment Tonight:

"I destroyed certain jobs, there were somewhere I was really high and it was bad. It was really bad."

Over many years and several relapses, McCormick beat her addictions by finding her faith in a higher power and therapy. “I’ve been through a lot of hard times, but I take all those experiences and learn and grow from them,” she told PEOPLE in 2016 her experiences. Thankfully, McCormick was able to overcome all of that when she sought a higher power and therapy.

During those times, McCormick was smitten with a man at a concert; it turns out he also attended the same church as she did. “I turned around and saw this guy behind me,” McCormick wrote in her autobiography and continued: 

“I’d never seen him before. He had dark hair, a great build, and chiseled features. I looked straight into his eyes and thought, ‘This is the man I’m going to marry.’”

Motivated to pursue him, McCormick began attending the same Bible studies as Michael Cummings, her future husband. She even sat near him at church, and eventually, they went on a date. Cummings told The Daily Mail in 2015 about the origins of his relationship with McCormick:

”She was very honest with me from day one. She has always been honest with me, an open book. And I was never worried about her reverting to her old behavior as I figured, whatever comes up, we will just deal with it.”

However, their relationship wasn’t always rainbows and butterflies. McCormick continued to battle her drug addiction and sobriety, and in doing so, she has pushed Cummings away multiple times. Thankfully, he never left. McCormick wrote in her autobiography:

“Michael said that he’d made a life-long commitment and decided he was going to work at it until it’s unworkable.”

She continued: “He thought child stardom had arrested my development, and in many ways he was right.” McCormick was grateful for all of those, and she attested that in her biography. She also credits their faith as the source of strength to weather the storms of their married life, stating:

“I know there’s one reason that Michael and I managed to stay together through all the heavy-duty ups and downs: our faith.”

McCormick furthered: “The two of us had faith that our love, despite all of our problems, was real, strong, durable, and worth sticking around for. Our faith made us believe our love was real.” The couple celebrated their anniversary in 2020, and Maureen marked it with a post on Instagram. She wrote:

“Happy 36th Anniversary to my husband Michael 💞 I love you forever 💞. You are my heart, my home, my love💞 How grateful and thankful I am to be on this journey with you! 💞❤️❤️.”

Maureen and Michael have one daughter, Nathalie Michelle Cummings, who leads a private life, although the actress regularly posts about her online. She posted a throwback picture of her family in 2022 on Instagram and captioned the photo of herself, her husband, and little daughter: “Happy #tbt ❤️❤️❤️ My heart, my hope, my love. ‘You are the reason.’”

Isn’t Maureen McCormick inspiring? What can you say about her relationship with Michael Cummings? Do you know someone who also had the same experience as hers? Let us know, and pass this on to your family, friends, and other loved ones out there!