Colton Haynes just revealed to fans he’s hit a major milestone: six months sober, with no drugs or alcohol!
The 30-year-old opened up this week about some dark days over the past decade of his life in an interview with Attitude Magazine. During that interview, he not only spoke about some of his demons, but also revealed the good news: that he’s been clean for six months, including the completion of a four-month treatment program.
Related: Colton Shuts Down Cheating Rumors
It wasn’t an easy road to get to this point, though.
Dark Times
Speaking to the mag about just how dark things had gotten in his life, Colton recalled his drug and alcohol use (below):
“In 10 years, there were maybe 25 days I didn’t drink. I remember when I started, it was a couple glasses of wine, and it regressed into really dark times.”
Wow!
Interestingly enough, according to the actor, the worst part of the downward spiral came after he came out publicly as gay in 2016. What you might think would be a weight off Haynes’ shoulders for opening up about his sexuality turned out, as he described, to be a big burden due to all the attention he received.
Colton recalled (below):
“I came out [in 2016] and, in a way, my downward spiral started. I felt extremely free but at the same time the amount of attention I was getting was making me spin out of control.”
It wasn’t just the coming-out that caused problems, either; Hayne’s personal life was crumbling around him, too, with his own mother passing away in 2018 after a long battle with advanced cirrhosis of the liver.
Related: Colton Sings About His Marital Woes
Seeing that — and then filing for divorce from his husband Jeff Leatham after less than a year of marriage — created a near-lethal effect in the actor’s life, sending him reeling and looking for help as he lost work and his career crumbled around him.
Getting Fired, Getting Lit
Haynes recalled one particularly poignant moment (below):
“I got married and that didn’t work out. That was extremely public and heart-breaking, and right when that was going on, my mom died. At that point, I fell apart. My brain broke. I was doing a massive comedy for a studio, showed up to work and got fired on the first day. They said I looked as if I had ‘dead in my eyes’, and I did. I got so heavily involved with drugs and alcohol to mask the amount of pain I was feeling that I couldn’t even make some decisions for myself. I was drowning in my own sh*t.”
Whoa!
Rock bottom came soon thereafter, when he threw himself completely into alcohol and drugs and went through a seven-day bender at a Los Angeles are hotel (below):
“I locked myself in a hotel room at the Waldorf Astoria in Beverly Hills for seven days and was found in my room with these insane bruises all over my body. It looked as if somebody had beaten the shit out of me. I couldn’t walk, so I was falling everywhere. I almost ruptured my kidney, ended up in the hospital, ended up in 5150 psyche hold. I was on such a destructive path that I could not function. I lost partial sight in my left eye for a while. I ended up having two seizures. I didn’t know any of this was happening until I was sober enough to remember it.”
Unreal!!! So scary!!!
Fortunately for Haynes, though, things turned around eventually — when he finally became honest enough with the fact that he needed to get help.
The Comeback Kid!
As he tells it, the moment of enlightenment didn’t come from anybody or anywhere else, but rather, from within — and things slowly started getting better (below):
“If anyone else had told me to get help I would be like ‘f*ck you!’. I had to make that decision on my own. I was ready to stop running from my own problems. Once I went to treatment, I found this amazing amount of true love for myself, and started figuring out who I am without those vices, and recognizing the people in my life who lifted me up instead of tearing me down.”
And now, six months sober, life has changed drastically for Haynes.
He acknowledges coming full-circle through his struggles, while also admitting he’s far from done with his treatment (below):
“I’m always going to be in recovery. There are so many people struggling out there, but not a lot of them talk about it. Life is much more beautiful than I could have imagined. It’s just a different life now. It’s the best gift I’ve ever been given.”
Wow!
It’s an unbelievable story, to hear him tell it — but more than anything, we’re beyond happy that Colton has received the care and support he needs, and he’s committed to turning his life around in a way that will hopefully sustain him for years to come!
Related: Colton’s Halloween Costumes Are Always Incredible!
So great!
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[Image via WENN]
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