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Rehab And Relapse Go Hand In Hand, Series Shows

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Marey Carey, Jessica Sierra, Jaimee Foxworth, Jeff Conaway and Ricco Rodriguez speak with counselor Bob Forrest and Dr. Drew Pinsky on the new show, "Celebrity Rehab."

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By WALT BELCHER | The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 6, 2008

TAMPA - In the second episode of "Celebrity Rehab With Dr. Drew," there is a moment when we see former "American Idol" contender Jessica Sierra at her most vulnerable.

The 22-year-old troubled Tampa singer breaks down in tears while talking about her mother, who died of a drug overdose while Sierra was auditioning for "Idol."

During a group therapy session on this new VH1 reality show, she says she hates her mother for abandoning her, doing drugs and becoming a prostitute. When others in the group suggest that her mother may have loved her but fell victim to the same demons that they all face, Sierra sobs and covers her face with a blanket to hide from the camera.

Afterward, she says the session was so depressing that she wanted to flee. Desperate for a drink, she says she would have "chewed the alcohol swabs" at the facility.

When she tells therapist Drew "Dr. Drew" Pinsky that she will never be able to hear her mother express love or regret, he tells her that she has to find a way to forgive and get on with her life.

"I see you clinging to your resentments, and resentments will kill you," Pinsky says.

The eight-episode "Celebrity Rehab" debuts at 10 p.m. Thursday, but we know now that Sierra is still wrestling with those demons. After completing the three-month "Celebrity Rehab" program at a Pasadena, Calif., facility in the fall, she is in jail.

She was arrested Dec. 1 for public intoxication outside an Ybor City bar. According to police reports, she was kicked out of the Full Moon Saloon, harassed patrons on the street and was combative with police. She vomited in a police car, cursed and yelled racial slurs and offered a sexual favor to an officer if he would release her.

The arrest violated Sierra's probation for an April incident at Hyde Park Cafe in which she was charged with cocaine possession and felony battery. Police said she hit a man with a bar glass. At first, Sierra said the man spit on her, but she later said she might have mistaken him for someone else. She pleaded no contest.

The celebrity news Web site TMZ.com reports that she is pregnant by a "rapper," and another Web site is offering an alleged sex tape of her that will go on sale Jan. 30.

"I'm just glad she is alive," Pinsky said in a recent telephone interview. "Relapse is part of the addiction problem. She needs treatment."

A Serious Problem

Pinsky, who has offered to come to Tampa to help Sierra, says that there is no easy cure for the addict. It is a lifelong process, and failure can cut the life short. He told Sierra that she is on a collision course with death and that she is on track to repeat what happened to her mother. "People will see that when she is off of drugs, Jessica is a very different person," Pinsky says.

Pinsky, a celebrity himself, says he agreed to participate in "Celebrity Rehab" not only to try to help the nine semi-famous addicts on the show but also to make the public aware of the seriousness of the problem and the difficulty in treating it.

Also in the group are former actress Brigitte Nielsen; former female wrestler Joanie "Chyna" Laurer; actors Daniel Baldwin, Jeff Conaway ("Taxi") and Jaimee Foxworth ("Family Matters"); rock star Seth Binzer; porn star Mary Carey; and mixed martial arts champion Ricco Rodriguez.

All have serious dependency problems and deep emotional problems. Most have been in and out of rehabilitation facilities. Baldwin says he has been there at least nine times.

Conaway is so deep into his addictions that it appears he won't survive long enough to make it through the series.

Tampa native Sierra appears to be the only novice to rehab. On the opening episode, she says she didn't think she had a problem until she was arrested in April.

The Robinson High School graduate once found solace in singing. While still in high school, she had competed on a revised version of "Star Search" that ran on CBS in 2003 and came close to winning.

She made it to the top 10 finalists on "Idol" in 2005 (the year Carrie Underwood won) and got to go on the national "Idol" tour.

She got a taste of fame and became a local celebrity. But even that began to fade.

On the "Celebrity Rehab" debut, Sierra says she spent all of her money on partying and drugs. Cocaine was her drug of choice.

There are scenes of her dancing in a club, drinking alcoholic beverages and vomiting in a toilet. Pinsky says the celebrities were given cameras prior to admission and asked to document their lives.

Sierra's Haunting Past

Also in Thursday's opening episode, she tells Pinsky that when she was 3, her mother left.

"She was prostituting and doing drugs and stuff like that," Sierra says. "She was in and out of jail. ... The last thing I said to her was that I hated her. ... She was dead for five hours in the back yard of some random person's apartment before they found her."

Pinsky says that her mother apparently made poor choices, which are symptomatic of people who are under the influence of drugs. On an upcoming episode, Sierra discusses the sex video that is being released this month.

Pinsky is best known as the host of the syndicated radio call-in show "Loveline." He is a medical correspondent for the "Today" show and "The View." He also heads the chemical dependency department at Las Encinas Hospital in Pasadena and runs a private recovery program.

Last year, he released the first scientific study of celebrity addiction. He found that celebrities are more at risk for addiction problems for several reasons. One is that they have easy access to drugs. Another is the party lifestyle that some embrace. But more important are some of the personality traits that drive a person to seek fame.

Pinsky says that the celebrities on "Celebrity Rehab" would have had addiction problems even if they had not become famous. He also says that a celebrity's failed career doesn't cause the addiction.

"It's the addiction that often causes the failed career," he says.

He wants people to see that going for serious rehabilitation is not like going to a spa. Those who come in for treatment very often arrive high on their drug of choice and have to go through detoxification.

"What I hope we accomplish is that people will become more understanding about what these people are going through not as celebrities but as human beings who have serious problems," he says.

ON TELEVISION

Celebrity Rehab

With Dr. Drew

WHEN: Debuts at 10 p.m. Thursday

WHERE: VH1

Walt Belcher can be reached at (813) 259-7654 or wbelcher @tampatrib.com.

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