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Jack Vidgen reveals he almost died from a drug overdose last year
Reality TV star Jack Vidgen has revealed that he almost died from a drug overdose last year and now attends Narcotics Anonymous meetings because he is determined to stay sober.
The 25-year-old, who rose to fame on Australia’s Got Talent in 2011, spoke openly about his battle with addiction during an appearance on Carla From Bankstown’s podcast OMG Bro this week.
“I have had a history with substance abuse. I think that’s definitely stemming from trauma,” he shared.
After spending six weeks in a Sydney rehabilitation facility in 2020, Jack says he was clean for a six-month period until things began to spiral out of control again at the beginning of last year.
“I essentially overdosed and very luckily didn’t die,” he said.
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“When I wrote [my 2021 single] Goodbye, it was when I decided to go sober. That was last year, and since then I was sober for about six months and then I did start drinking again.
“And then it did get a bit hectic again. I’ve never been an alcoholic, but it always starts [with alcohol] for me and it doesn’t end there. Maybe not always, but the chaos builds up.”
The pop star went on to reveal that he now regularly attends Narcotics Anonymous meetings, which he finds to be really helpful “in a disciplinary way”.
“Just to have something that I can go to and it reminds you of where things can get, and hearing people's stories and just sharing about where you're at, I find it really powerful,” he continued.
“I'm sober now. I don't know whether I'll be sober from alcohol forever, I still haven't decided that - or whether I want that. But I know for now I just need to be sober.
“I want clarity in my life, I want peace, I want to live authentically. And I'm just finding at the moment being sober from alcohol and everything else is what needs to happen right now at least. It’s a day-by-day thing.
‘I didn’t know my sexuality’
Jack’s comments come shortly after he spoke with Yahoo Lifestyle about his sexuality and the “added pressure” of coming out in the public eye.
“I remember the day after I won Australia’s Got Talent when I was 14, I had an interview on Sunday Night and Kyle Sandilands was interviewing me and he asked me so out of the blue, ‘So, boyfriend? Girlfriend?’,” he recalled.
“He put me on the spot and I mean, now I’m friends with Kyle and I know it would never have been coming from a place of wanting to out me because he loves the gays. But I was like, ‘Holy s**t, does someone know something that I don't know? Have I said something? Has someone found out something?’.
“And even though I didn't know my sexuality, I knew that I was different in some way and that related to sexuality.”
Jack said that stepping away from the limelight when he was 16 years old definitely put him in “a safer position” to discover his sexuality.
“I quit music for about five years and within that time was when I came out,” he shared. “So I think it helped me in a lot of ways doing that.
“And then after getting back into the public eye, I kind of had to do a second coming out,” he continued, before adding with a laugh, “Even though everyone already knew”.
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