AJ McLean is living a happily sober life — and opening up about his addiction.
The boybander has been battling with addiction for the last 20 years, an era that has included periods of sobriety, relapses and rehab stints. After a “moment of surrender” in December of 2019, AJ finally decided to get sober for good. In an interview with People, he reflected on his years of substance abuse.
Related: Kristen Bell Opens Up About Dax Shepard’s Relapse
He told the outlet that the first time he ever tried drugs was hours before filming the music video for the Backstreet Boys classic The Call. He explained:
“When I showed up on set and I got in the makeup chair, I told everybody. I was like, ‘I’m freaking out. I’m on this. I’m on that.’ They were like, ‘You need to stop. Don’t tell the world that you’re on drugs right now.’ Somehow someway, I kept it a secret from everyone for the next at least 18 months before the boys caught on, before my family caught on, before my real friends caught on. I found a way to really keep it under the rug.”
When his bandmates — Nick Carter, Howie Dorough, Brian Littrell, and Kevin Richardson — did find out, they staged an intervention of sorts. The 42-year-old recalled on Monday’s Good Morning America:
“When the boys kind of caught on, I missed out on rehearsal. They basically broke into my house, and they dumped ice water on me while I was passed out in my bed. … Everybody started to catch on. I wasn’t me anymore, you know, I was just living a lie.”
The band convinced AJ to seek treatment in 2001. To People, he revealed:
“The most crucial part of that conversation was the final thing Kevin said to me: If I continued using, he said, ‘I will never trust you again. You’re dead to me.'”
After two decades of substance abuse, the final straw came when he returned home from a drug- and alcohol-fueled Vegas trip. He said:
“I never slept. I missed my first two flights back home and reeked of alcohol when I got home. My wife and I had always had this agreement, which was, if I smelled like alcohol, I wasn’t allowed to play with my kids — I couldn’t be around my kids. But what really hit me was the moment, my youngest daughter Lyric said to me that night, ‘You don’t smell like my daddy.’ And when she said that to me, that was it. Enough said. I felt disgusting.”
“You don’t smell like my daddy.” That is just heartbreaking…
Related: Ally Brooke Reveals Body Issues, Alcohol, & Depression During Fifth Harmony Days
Now, the Dancing with the Stars contestant attends regular 12-step meetings and has frequent check-ins with his sponsor. He shared:
“The silver lining of the pandemic for me is that I can really work on myself, get to a meeting every day and build a foundation of recovery before going back on tour next year. As hard as it is to say, I have zero regrets and am beyond lucky to still be here. I can genuinely say I love myself today.”
We’re so glad AJ’s healthy and feeling good. He’s come a LONG way since The Call, in more ways than one!
[Image via WENN, Avalon & Apega]
The post The Backstreet Boys ‘Broke Into’ AJ McLean’s House To Stage A Drug Intervention! appeared first on Perez Hilton.