‘Summer House’ star Carl Radke at ‘Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen’.Photo: Charles Sykes/Bravo
For years,Summer House’sCarl Radkehas been open about his struggle with addiction before getting sober. But on the Feb. 5 episode ofNick Viall’sThe Viall Filespodcast, Radke, 40, shared a raw account of how he overindulged after hisolder brother Curtis diedin September 2020 following a lifelong battle with mental health issues and addiction.
Radke explained that he thought moving out of his apartment would help, so he rented a new place in the same building as his castmateLindsay Hubbardbefore theystarted datingand eventually got engaged. (They’ve sincecalled off the wedding.)
“I thought at the time, like, it’d be good to be around a friend if I’m gonna actually go and, like, get sober,” Radke told Viall, 44. “But, yeah, I moved into that apartment, and first weekend, I told myself I’m gonna get in this new apartment. I’m not gonna drink or do drugs in it. That lasted a day.”
The Bravo star said he started experiencing “horrible anxiety” knowing he’d have to watch back theSummer Houseepisode where he learned about the death of his brother.
“Here I am drinking alone, doing cocaine alone and people were celebrating me at that time, like, because I was seemingly doing okay publicly,” Radke said. “And people were celebrating how I was reacting to my brother’s passing.”
‘Summer House’ stars Carl Radke (left) and Kyle Cooke at ‘Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen’ in New York City.Heidi Gutman/Bravo/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty
Heidi Gutman/Bravo/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty
Radke said he “felt like an impostor” and recalled “holding a jar of cocaine in my hand” when he saw an online article at the time praising how he appeared to be coping with Curtis’ death. Radke credited his time at Syracuse University with being “a crash course” in “not only drinking, but, you know, cocaine use,” explaining that he first used the drug while on a spring break trip to Mexico in college.
“For the first time, I actually had someone call me out and say, ‘I know it’s not just alcohol. It’s coke. All the other s— as a result,” Radke said. “I would take Xanax to kinda come down. I would take Ambien to help sleep, all the things. But, it still wasn’t right away, like, I’m gonna go to get my help. I did it in my own.”
Radke said it took him another nearly two years to “fall on my knees” and get sober. He began attending Alcoholics Anonymous and celebratedfour years sober last month.
‘Summer House’ stars Carl Radke and Lindsay Hubbard at NBC Entertainment’s 2022/23 New Season Press Junket in New York City on May 16, 2022.Cindy Ord/NBCUniversal/NBCU Photo Bank/Getty
Radke sees his sobriety as a way to honor his brother who had a heroin addiction and would’ve turned 45 on Tuesday, Feb. 4. The Bravolebrity said onViall Filesthat he remembers watching Curtis get arrested as a teenager and seeing his brother shoot up heroine in the room they shared growing up.
“I didn’t realize at the time, but I was about 12,” Radke said. “I saw him with needles and stuff, and I found needles.”
Radke shared that he and his brother had a falling out after he mentioned Curtis’ heroin addiction onSummer House, which caused him to go on “a Facebook tirade,” tagging Bravo execs and the season 1 cast.
He plans to keep “sharing openly” about his addiction and subsequent sobriety in hopes that others will do the same.
“I know five years ago, if you I would have thought I would have ever admitted publicly I had a cocaine problem, you would have been crazy,” Radke said. “But, I now it’s like, let’s go.”
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Summer Houseseason 9 premieres Wednesday, Feb. 12, at 9 p.m. ET on Bravo.
If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, please contact the SAMHSA helpline at 1-800-662-HELP.
source: people.com
