Kevin McHale Reveals Glee Co-Stars Held An 'Intervention' For Him During Prescription Drug Nightmare!

Kevin McHale is opening up about a time his Glee co-stars came to his aid.

In Monday’s episode of his podcast, And That’s What You REALLY Missed, which he co-hosts with his friend and co-star Jenna Ushkowitz, the actor recalled when he was exhibiting some unusual behavior and his pals stepped in to help him!

Kevin began by recalling a trip the entire cast took to London in 2010 in between filming two episodes at the same time. He asked Jenna:

“You had an intervention with me. Do you remember this? We had just started filming the Super Bowl episode.”

The 35-year-old, who played Artie Abrams, said he was feeling very unwell amid the jam-packed schedule, so he was placed on some strong medicine:

“I was sick as a dog on all kinds of medicine, including Prednisone, which is a steroid and it turned me into a monster.”

At first, he was actually happy to be using the drugs since it “gave me the courage” to “fight” for his solo in the show’s Thriller/Heads Will Roll mashup. But those around him were starting to notice something was off — and they told him! He continued:

“Cory [Monteith] and I had dinner together and you and Naya [Rivera] were one over from me, I think, and you were all like, ‘So hey, so why are you taking these steroids?’ And I go, ‘Because I’m sick and I’m supposed to take them.'”

But Jenna and Naya saw the situation differently and told him to stop taking the steroids immediately, even though he technically still had a few more left per the prescription. He recalled them urging:

“You’re not sleeping. You’re acting crazy. You need to stop taking them.”

The actresses suggested he simply take the antibiotic he was also prescribed, and Kevin quickly realized their concerns were very real. He acknowledged:

“I hadn’t slept in days. I was losing my mind.”

Yikes!

All ’cause he was put on some meds to handle an illness! Wow!

Somewhat cryptically, Jenna, AKA Tina Cohen-Chang, said that was “the beginning of the steroids for you,” but she quickly noted the medicine was “needed, needed, necessary, [and] prescribed.” Still, it was alarming how much the Prednisone had impacted the American Horror Stories alum’s temperament. He’s now glad he took his friends’ advice, expressing:

“It was a hard lesson to learn.”

Thank goodness he had friends looking out for him! It sounds like he was able to get a handle on his steroid use before it became a problem, but you never know what could’ve happened if someone didn’t encourage him to lay off the meds. Drugs hit everyone differently, and you never know if you’ll have a bad reaction until you’ve had one. So you really have to listen to your body. AND to your friends!

As Perezcious readers know, any drug issue is especially harrowing for the cast considering Glee’s leading man, Cory, passed away suddenly in 2013 due to a drug overdose. Learning they were trying so hard to look out for one another around that time? So, so sad. Thoughts? Let us know (below).

[Image via MEGA/WENN /Avalon]