Nicole Richie is joining her father in defending herself against allegations in the press that she is suffering from a very severe eating disorder. Ever since she was adopted by the soul singer Lionel Richie, Nicole permanently lived in the spotlight but it's been her sudden drop in weight in the past months that got more media coverage than ever.

Last week, Lionel said that he had taken his daughter to the doctor who, after a close examination, declared that she was not suffering from anorexia, her condition being mainly a question of living under pressure all the time.

In an interview with one of her best friends, supermodel Tyra Banks, for her talk show, Nicole talked about her slimming figure and said that, each time she looks in the mirror, she sees nothing wrong there. 'I think I look OK. I definitely wouldn't mind gaining a few more pounds at all. I think that people's weight fluctuates. It happens. It happens to everybody', were Nicole's exact words.

The petite superstar continues to blame the paparazzi for her losing weight and this is a 'war' that has been going on for such a long time, that it's almost impossible to establish which side is right and which is not. 'I do not leave my house and if I do I go with a group of people... It's not right... I feel like I'm being attacked', she told Tyra.

When the model turned talk show host addressed the matter more directly, Nicole stated as a matter of fact: 'Absolutely not. One hundred per cent not! I am not anorexic. I am not bulimic. I do not have an eating disorder'.