Love Island’s Austin Shepard Went To Rehab After Beyond The Villa
He had a “moment of clarity” after relapsing.
Love Island USA’s Austin Shepard opened up about his sobriety journey during a March 9 appearance on TMZ’s Previously On… podcast. In the interview, Shepard said that he is 11 days sober after going to rehab for his opioid addiction. According to him, he relapsed while filming Love Island: Beyond the Villa without producers’ knowledge.
“I'm a pretty manipulative, functional addict until it becomes so unmanageable, like how it got,” he said. Apparently, he “tried to avoid filming as much as possible” to keep his relapse under wraps. “I was ducking out on a lot of the filming just ‘cause I looked horrible and I didn't even want to be seen,” he added.
“I was a hermit in my apartment for two and a half months, like I barely left,” he said.
Although producers did not notice, Shepard’s Beyond the Villa co-stars picked up on his struggles. “Charlie [Georgio] started reaching out in the last month and was like, ‘Bro what’s going on?’” he said. “I just got pretty real with him, just telling him pretty much everything. He’s been wishing me love, giving me love. Same with TJ [Palma], Iris [Kendall]. They’ve been sending me love.”
According to Shepard, he had a “moment of clarity” after his most recent relapse, prompting him to seek professional help. “You really can't do things yourself, especially once you get past a certain point, it’s impossible,” Shepard said. “I know how this road goes. I’ve got plenty of friends that are not here today that have sadly passed from it. It’s either death or a long life of misery.”
Shepard paid $10,000 for a 10-day stay at Haven Detox. “They really took care of me there,” he said. “They did their thing.”
Describing his time in rehab, Shepard explained, “They had some really deep, good counselors there. Since I was there detoxing, I wasn't there for residential, so I didn't technically have to go to any of these groups or meetings. But I was like, ‘You know what? I paid all this money. I'm going to take full advantage of being here, and I'm going to do everything.’”
During his detox, he went to AA meetings and other holistic activities. “I was doing arts and crafts. I was doing yoga.”
