Jenny McCarthy opens up about school bullying terror

Joining the bullying debate, actress-cum-model Jenny McCarthy has revealed that she was once the target of thugs.

After hearing about a spate of school suicides, brought on by years of teen torment, the starlet recently "evaluated" her own years of agony in Chicago, Illinois.

McCarthy read about the tragedies of Seth Walsh, Asher Walker, Billy Lucas and Justin Aaberg, who all took their lives rather than face the bullies ruining their lives - and she realised she was once just like them.

The actress recalled the terror of her abusive youth on Tuesday's Ellen DeGeneres Show in America.

"I would have girls wait for me outside of school with pipes, to beat me up... They were picking on me because their boyfriends would look at me on the way home,” the Daily Express quoted McCarthy as saying.

"After hearing all the bully stuff, I kinda went back and evaluated what I was thinking, looking out the window... 'Why didn't I tell my mom? Why didn't I tell my teacher?' It was because I didn't want my mom or anyone to think I was weak.

"Then it got worse. By the time I got to high school, the girls... were throwing pies at my face, pulling out my hair, spitting on me and then the worst part was when they lit my hair on fire on the bus.

"I went to an all-girls Catholic school, need I say more. But we also went to school next to a public school, so we got on the bus, the city bus, and the public school (kids) got on the bus before us, so they'd just attack and be so vicious,” she added.

McCarthy became so terrified of school life she started staying at home to avoid the bullies.

"I literally got a call from my high school saying, 'If Jenny misses one more day of school, she's not gonna get her diploma' and my mom was like, 'You've gotta go'. I was so terrified,” she said.