Whoopi Goldberg, Robert Downey Jr. and Jay Leno all confronted Mike ‘The Situation’ Sorrentino about his drug use before he got clean eight years ago.
The TV personality, who rose to fame on MTV’s Jersey Shore, has laid bare his struggles in new memoir Reality Check: Making the Best of The Situation.
The book hits shelves in early January, with 41-year-old Mike writing how he “consumed hundreds, if not thousands, of pills. Every day, all day”. Percocet, Vicodin, oxycodone and Xanax are among the long list of pills he was popping.
However, other celebrities could see the mess he was getting into and tried to warn of the dangers.
“A couple of times, Jay (Leno) pulled me aside after appearances on The Tonight Show. I could see the concern in his face,” Mike remembered. “He’d witnessed it before and wanted to straighten me out. ‘You’ve got to make better decisions,’ Jay Leno told me on more than one occasion.
“Whoopi Goldberg was another one who spotted the tell-tale signs of my addiction and tried to call attention to my actions. Many times, she graciously reached out to warn me that I was moving too fast. She had a very loving and caring manner about her that I will never forget.”
However he wasn’t “ready to listen” and carried on with his habit, which included cocaine use as well. His team estimate he blew a total of $500,000 on drugs.
A conversation with Iron Man actor Robert, who has also publicly battled addiction, finally changed his mindset.
“As someone who had gone through the same addiction issues I was grappling with at the time, he recognised the signs: glasses tipped low, pupils pinpointed, my energy douchebag on blast,” he wrote. “Ours was a quick run-in, but the pleasantries quickly turned into a serious conversation. I remember he showed concern for my condition and implored me to be careful.”