Times Kaley Cuoco Aired Her Dirty Laundry

The world of television is filled with secrets that the viewing public would kill to know, so fans get super excited when they find a rare celebrity that is willing to spill a secret or two. That's part of the unique appeal of actress Kaley Cuoco. In addition to playing the beautiful girl next door on The Big Bang Theory, Cuoco has developed a reputation as someone who's not afraid to speak her mind. From divorce to feminism to the future of her breakout television show, Cuoco calls it like she sees it. Let's take a closer look at some times Cuoco aired her dirty laundry.

At the time of this writing, The Big Bang Theory has cranked out 11 seasons, and some wonder if it will ever end. CBS has even launched the well-received Young Sheldon prequel show in 2017. This never-ending bevy of bazinga has some Big Bang critics and fans alike wishing the show would admit its best days are behind it and head out to pasture. Interestingly enough, Cuoco is actually among the crowd who just want the damn show to die.

She told late night host Jimmy Kimmel that enough was enough: "Ten years, come on! All of my 20s. I went from like, hot, to like, 30. I was 21 when I started this show." 

Despite her clearly compliment-fishing claim that she wanted to throw in the towel, Cuoco ate her words when she returned to Kimmel a year later, having renewed her contract with CBS for another two seasons. "Remember I said it was an expensive question?" Cuoco rhetorically asked Kimmel, referencing her infamous $900,000 per episode salary. Way to keep it classy, Cuoco.  

Cuoco got engaged to tennis pro Ryan Sweeting after only three months of dating, and their marriage was the subject of constant gossip about rumored unhappiness. While married, Cuoco often took to social media to blast her naysayers and claim she and Sweeting were loving life together.

It turns out the lady doth protest too much, and the two of them divorced after just 21 months. During an appearance on Ellen, Cuoco said the divorce itself was really "rough" and that her last year with Sweeting was "very bizarre" and filleI d with "really weird ups and downs." Topping the "rough and bizarre category," Cuoco commissioned a commemorative tattoo when they first wed–Roman numerals representing the date that they got married. After the divorce, she opted for an equally subtle way of covering up the date: a giant moth tattoo to cover the numbers.

Since the very beginning The Big Big Theory, the show has never failed to capitalize on Cuoco's breasts as part of her sex appeal to awkward nerd-next-door Leonard and the rest of his geek compatriots. Also since the beginning the show, fans have wondered if the actress had a little extra help physically blossoming between her previous role on 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter and her debut on Big Bang.

Cuoco eventually admitted to Women's Health (via Us Weekly) that she got a boob job "years ago," describing it as "the best thing I ever did." Perhaps anticipating criticism for her happiness at going under the knife, the star clarified that getting a boob job or other surgery should not be motivated by the pressure to look good "for a man or anyone else," but rather, it should be something to make "you feel confident," which is "amazing." The notion that plastic surgery is the key to confidence may itself be controversial, but hey, Cuoco isn't apologizing.

Cuoco has willingly dished on other work she's opted for over the years. This includes a nose job that she had in response to a certain addiction (more on that in a minute) as well as filler for a line on her neck that she says bothered her since the age of 12. You do you, Cuoco.

Countless stars have suffered from addictions over the years, and Cuoco is no exception, even if hers is a little out of the ordinary. 

During an appearance on Ellen, Cuoco admitted that she was addicted to Afrin nasal spray for years, going so far as to pick out clutches that allowed her to hide the spray when she brought it to awards shows. "And I'd be under the table like snorting it," she quipped, adding, "I couldn't get enough and it was such a problem. And I ruined my sinus. So I had to get it fixed."

Lest you think this is some sort of cosmetic scapegoat, medical professionals do warn against the adverse effects of long-term use of nasal sprays.  

Pregnancy and Cuoco have been something of a touchy duo over the years. For instance, many people assumed her rush to the alter with Sweeting suggested she might be expecting. This triggered rampant tabloid speculation over her every appearance on The Big Bang Theory as viewers hunted for signs of a baby bump. The actress eventually shot down those rumors on Twitter with her signature subtlety: "I AM NOT EFFING PREGNANT." The surprising thing is, though, is that she was already expecting to be expecting.

In an interview with Cosmopolitan, Cuoco said it felt weird to be single again at the age of 30. "I thought I'd have a baby by now!" she said, adding that she "cannot wait to be in love again."

At the time of this writing, she's already found love again with fiancé Karl Cook, a rich tech heir and fellow equestrian enthusiast.

Cuoco also has an unhealthy obsession with social media. Specifically, she's obsessed with what people say about her on social media. 

She told Cosmopolitan that one person's comment about her looking "disgusting" may prompt her to pay special attention to the makeup she puts on when she appears on an awards show, only to feel equally hurt when someone else digs on her made-up looks. Cuoco fully realizes she's caught in the spin cycle of celebrity gossip. She admits that she'll ask herself, "Why am I reading this stuff?" only to conclude: "I'm obsessed. I openly admit to being totally insane about that." 

It may seem petty that someone with the bank account of a god and the body of a goddess is obsessed with what people say about her, but let those who have never Googled their name throw the first stone!

Cuoco made an entire beach worth of waves when she was interviewed for Redbook in 2014. The magazine asked her if she considered herself a feminist and Cuoco asked if it was bad if she said "no." She went on to say, "It's not really something I think about." Noting that she's aware of and respectful of the fight for equality, she said, "I was never that feminist girl demanding equality, but maybe that's because I've never really faced inequality." 

Her views attracted so much criticism that Cuoco eventually walked her statement back when speaking to Cosmopolitan. She told the magazine, "Of course I'm a f**king feminist. Look at me. I bleed feminism." She added, "I get equal pay to my male costars on a big show, I have my own home, I'm as independent as you could possibly be." 

Something tells us Gloria Steinem won't be inviting her over for tea anytime soon.

The premise of many The Big Bang Theory episodes revolves around just how unlikely it is that Cuoco's character, Penny, would date (much less marry) the awkward and nerdy Leonard, played by Johnny Galecki. However, this seemingly unlikely relationship was revealed to be much more realistic than everyone thought when Cuoco admitted to CBS Watch Magazine (via TV Guide) that she secretly dated Galecki for two years.

"It was a wonderful relationship but we never spoke a word about it and never went anywhere together," she said, explaining that they felt like they needed to keep their romance a secret to protect their personal images and to protect the image of the show. That burden played a role in the breakup, she said. 

The dynamic between these former flames continues to cast a long shadow over both stars. In fact, tabloid rumors suggested Cuoco's relationship with Galecki may have impacted her marriage to Sweeting and post-divorce dating life.

In 2015, hackers broke into a number of celebrities' devices and leaked racy photos of some actresses. Many high-profile names, such as Oscar-winner Jennifer Lawrence, spoke out against the attack. Cuoco took a very different approach. She decided to fight fire with fire by releasing a tongue-in-cheek nude photo of her own.

She posted an image to Instagram of herself and then-husband Sweeting "frolicking," as she writes, "on the beaches of Mexico." Cuoco blurred out the naughty bits and playfully wrote that despite the fun, it felt "like we forgot something." It was a cheekier-than-usual move from a star that has never shied away from speaking her mind and being proud of her body, showcasing the same impressive sense of humor that, presumably, keeps the Big Bang laugh track from driving her insane.

During an interview on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Cuoco once again got candid about an embarrassing incident from her personal life: the time the TSA fished two wine openers out of her carry-on bag. And these weren't some teeny, travel size things. Cuoco said she was shocked when the security agent removed not one, but two full-on, metal corkscrews—the kind with the expanding arms that look more like a medieval torture device than a beverage opener.

"That's like a weapon!" she said. Asked by Kimmel if she's a big drinker, Cuoco admitted, "Huge drinker. Huge—love to drink on a plane, by the way, it's the best time!" She then proceeded to say that she's now more into bourbon, because not only is there no fancy, banned item needed to open it, but "everyone is so less annoying when I get to that point, that drinking point." 

Who wants to tell her that's just called being drunk? You know what? Let's not spoil her fun.

Clearly not one to be ashamed of her body, Cuoco once told the New York Post that when she decided to "step up her style game," she enlisted the help of famed designer Brad Goreski by sending him a video via text "in which she just happened to be topless." 

Goresky wrote back, "I am on the floor, like, dead," but he agreed and helped the sitcom stunner "bring out her wilder side on the red carpet."  

"And it's been exactly that way from the first moment we started working together," Cuoco said, which is not even a slight exaggeration, since she repeated the performance on his Snapchat in September 2016. According to E! News, Cuoco revealed just one of her bazingas (tastefully covered with a heart emoji) alongside Goreski, whose face was obscured with "the grandpa filter." How those two things go together? We don't want to know, and we pray that the combination will never be revealed as another of Cuoco's dirty laundry items.

Back in 2013, Cuoco took a beating from fashion critics when she sported some admittedly questionable fake bangs to the Screen Actors Guild Awards. The Daily Mail dubbed the 'do as "helmet hair," and Perez Hilton described the look as "one set of fringe that's NOT bangin." The heat was enough to send Cuoco back to her de facto confessional booth, Jimmy Kimmel Live, to explain herself.

According to Business Insider, Cuoco told Kimmel the bangs were an attempt to cover-up of six stitches and a black eye that she received after a prank gone wrong on the set of The Big Bang Theory. "Johnny [Galecki] and I decided ... let's do a prank where he actually fake punches me, and I go flying out of frame," she said.

She also rehashed the ordeal at the San Diego Comic-Con, explaining that she "clocked" her head on a chair, sending blood gushing down her face. 

Imagine how Galecki, who is not only Cuoco's co-star but also her ex-boyfriend, has felt as she repeats this embarrassing story. We like to imagine him quipping, "You couldn't have just blamed this one on Goreski?"