VH1 Reality World

Celebrity Rehab: Where Are They All Now?

by Lynn on March 14th, 2008

This show has been an emotional one for many of us who have watched the season. I grew to care about the people in rehab and learned a phenomenal amount about addiction and what goes on when trying to get sober. It also made me so very grateful that addiction has not been a part of my life and my heart goes out to anyone who has had addiction in their life. This reunion show was important for me, because I wanted to see how these people have done since the show was taped. Here’s what they each revealed at the reunion.

Mary Ellen Cook (fka Mary Carey): She is still mostly sober, drinking only a bit of wine occasionally. She has not gone back to the adult film industry, but does still make celebrity dancing appearances because she needs the money to help support her mother and herself. She plans to continue to move towards her dream of making a living with ballet in some way.
(follow the jump for lots more!)

Ricco Rodriguez: He was successful in going to 90 meetings in 90 days and continues to stay completely sober, with his family as his top priority. He’s a real success story.

Jaimee Foxworth: She has struggled with loneliness, since she has had to get rid of about 80% of her old friends and did relapse. She is working to quit smoking altogether, but has at least reduced her amount of smoking considerably.

Brigitte Neilsen: She has managed to stay sober and has even quit smoking entirely. She is another inspiration and success story.

Seth “Shifty” Binzer: He says that he’s come a long way towards sobriety. He says that he messed up for 2 days and called Dr. Drew and was 4 months sober until just a few days before the reunion show was filmed. He is back in treatment again and is working to stay sober and get his career back on track.

Chyna Laurer: She says that when she goes out with friends now, she just drinks water or one glass of champagne. She’s also back heavily into her fitness. And the best news is that she has started to see a therapist about the issues that brought her to rehab in the first place. She still isn’t totally convinced that she’s an addict, but is working on bettering herself.

Jeff Conaway: Jeff has had 4 operations since leaving rehab. Dr. Drew visited Jeff at home and asked if he was ready to completely give up him pain meds. He’s still on the prescription pills, but isn’t doing anything else. He credits his girlfriend Vickie for helping him through it all. The other celebs told Vickie that they think she needs rehab too.

Dr. Drew told her that she needs to get someone to help her through things since she’s the caretaker for Jeff. She admits that she will go into therapy.

We also found out an amazing story. Bob, the treatment counselor for the group was actually helped to get sober by Jeff Conaway years before and neither of them had told Dr. Drew about it. Wow. So it’s obvious how fragile addiction can make a person. Jeff’s pain meds had taken him right back into the hell he had already gotten out of.

Jeff says that he can’t give a date for when he will return to rehab, because he may need another surgery, but he promises that he will do it.

Jessica Sierra: She was not at the reunion taping. She had been ordered by Florida courts to return to Florida. While there, she relapsed and was arrested. Dr. Drew testified on her behalf and got the judge to give her 12 months of mandatory rehab at the Pasadena Rehab Center instead of the 10 years of imprisonment she would have faced. So she is now in rehab for many more months, but she has a much better chance of surviving sober this way.

Daniel Baldwin: He also was absent from the reunion. The others expressed disappointment in him and Jeff even went so far as to say that Daniel had let everybody down. But after some discussion, they all agreed that it was his addiction that made him do things the way he did them. They all still wish the best for him and his recovery.

I was impressed by VH1’s willingness to bring such an important show to us. They have a lot of shows with very little redeeming value, but this one makes up for that in a big way. Thank you, VH1 for giving us a show that both teaches us and perhaps can help a few people avoid these problems. Good job on this one!

What did you think of the show? Do you want to see more of this, or not? Leave a comment to share your thoughts!

_{Reality TV, TV, Television, vh1, Brigitte Neilsen, Chyna Laurer, Daniel Baldwin, Jeff Conaway, Jessica Sierra, Mary Carey, Seth “Shifty” Binzer, Ricco Rodriguez, Jaimee Foxworth, Dr. Drew Pinsky, Celebrity Rehab}

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POSTED IN: Celebrity Rehab