Ashley and Naomi Judd

During Wynonna's second appearance on the show, we watched her talk with her mother Naomi about her weight problem for the very first time. This topic has always been strictly off limits. Sister Ashley said the real problem was that Wynonna never knew who her real dad was—a secret Naomi had kept from Wynonna until she was 30 years old.

After the show, Wynonna returned home to Nashville, where her counselor advised her to watch the show again.

"I sort of fell into a little bit of a depression over the stuff I had opened up [about]. It affected my relationship with my mom and with Ashley. I realized how much I miss my sister and I don't see her. She left right after the show, and I was literally paralyzed...there's a longing there with Ashley. All those years I missed with her."
Wynonna, Ashley and Naomi Judd

Seeing her own despair, Wynonna decided to take a drastic step. She told her mother, Naomi, she needed space.

"I had to write her a letter and say, 'I need some time. I want to figure out a way to disentangle without severing our ties. It feels like a death...it's sort of like the death has to happen for the rebirth. I have to do some work right now and find out what it is I want from this relationship, because I want it to be different.'"

Wynonna hopes someday that she and Naomi can learn to change the way they communicate with one another.

"Mom's a live wire and you never know what she's gonna say. And I've lived with that for years, and I guess my whole thing is—I've learned to be comedic. ... And now I'm having to say, 'I know it wasn't your intention to hurt my feelings, but you really did, and I really need for you not to do that anymore'—is very healthy and very healing. It makes her accountable."
Wynonna Judd

Wynonna's father died 10 years ago. She says she longs for conversations she never had with her dad.

"I am paralyzed by the pain I feel for my father. He died when I was 30. It's taken me 10 years, and even now I'm starting to well up, because I did what most people do. I swept it under the rug. You can't delay grieving or it will catch up to you. Obviously my body shows that. I have some painful aspects to my life."
Wynonna Judd

Wynonna admits she's using food for comfort and has gained back the weight she lost.

"I just sort of fell off my program, and I was so exhausted after that show, I was, like, crying for 10 hours. And I took myself back off the list, and started doing everything else again. Welcome to the habit. Welcome to the addiction. ... It's painful. I want to figure out a way to love the people I love, do the things I have to do, and not forget myself.

But Wynonna still has hope that she can find the strength to change her life.

"I have a plan again. You fall down and you get back up. And I'm in the 'getting back up' stages. My goal is to keep myself on that list. ... In January, I'd like to be able to say, 'I've been consistent with my workouts and worked on my portions.' And that will be a victory for me. These are small victories. Not big ones."

Look back at all of the Judd family's Oprah Show appearances