Aussie child star's devastating clip reveals ‘really sad' admission
Reality TV star Jack Vidgen has opened up about his seventh relapse as he continues to battle addiction, admitting he feels 'really sad' and 'scared for the future'.
The 28-year-old – who rose to fame aged just 14 on Australia's Got Talent in 2011 – posted an emotional video on Instagram after a five month hiatus from the social media platform.
He said he wanted to let people he wasn't doing OK after he uploaded a story a few days ago for the first time in five-months.
'Everyone was saying how great I looked and how happy I looked. I was not happy I just had a spray tan and was wearing a fake smile and was flexing my arms, that's really it. It was all smoke and mirrors. But I'm not doing OK, but I will be doing OK,' he said.
He revealed that he had relapsed again two months ago.
'I just feel like I've let people down and I wasn't going to talk about it again because half of me is like 'shut up Jack, no one wants to hear it', but I just feel like I need to tell someone,' he said.
'I have a situation coming up in a couple of months where I think I'm just really scared for so many years. I made a police report five years ago and it's just been lingering and this dark cloud over my life for so long and I just want it to be over.
'I think I wanted to do a reach out that if you're a victim, you understand. If you're a victim that goes through addiction you'd understand even more.
'It's just been really hard and I don't know I just want to talk about it because I talk about it with people but they don't get it.'
He went on to thank people for the continuous love and support and reassured them he was in a safe space now.
In the caption, he went on to reveal that is was not the video he was hoping to be posting after his Instagram hiatus.
'This is now my 7th rehab admission. That sentence fills me with so much embarrassment but at the same time I'm trying to tap into the strength that people tell it takes to keep trying,' he wrote.
'This relapse was a really sad one as I feel like lost contact with most of my friends and pushed away the people I loved as I left like there was not much hope for me.
'It fills me with compassion for people who don't have the resources to just check in to a rehab when they need it.'
But he said he was 'scared for the future'.
'As I mentioned I have a situation coming up in the next couple months that's been lingering for the last five years. Something that I wouldn't wish upon my worst enemy. I've been so terrified but it's time I step into my strength and my truth,' he added.
'As a victim of sexual abuse I will get through this. Alive.'
Back in December last year he revealed he was in rehab again, during which he'd also been upfront about the situation with his followers.
'I relapsed about three weeks ago and I'm back in rehab. It's Boxing Day today, the day after Christmas and I just wanted to give you an update about where I'm at,' Mr Vidgen said.
'I know I've been MIA on socials for a few weeks and that's why. I don't have a whole lot to say, I feel a lot of shame and guilt and I don't really have the words right now.
'Withdrawals are starting now, it's f**king hectic. So, that's where I'm at.'
In October, he was also upfront about checking into rehab with his followers.
Explaining that he had been on a 'five week long relapse', the star said he had eventually realised he again needed professional help.
'As I write this I'm so terrified of judgement,' he wrote from his hospital bed at an undisclosed treatment facility.
'I'm terrified of what people will think, what they'll say or whisper to each other if I pass them by on the street. I've been so scared, for years, of this thing that lives inside me which is my addiction.
In his honest post, Vidgen explained that he doesn't know what 'triggered' his relapse this time, but suffering the loss of two loved ones took a toll on him personally.
'I can't quite put my finger on the pulse of what triggered my relapse this time,' he wrote.
'I had almost four months of complete sobriety up (which is a lot for me, the most I've had is six months over the last four years).
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'I think it was just a snowball effect. I had a close friend of 13 years pass away, my uncle got sick and ended up passing away as well, I had a whole bunch of other stresses happening and I just don't think I reached out for support as much as I needed to. Or even realised that I needed the support that I needed.'
After his winning turn on Australia's Got Talent in 2011, Mr Vidgen took some time out of the spotlight before returning in 2019 as a contestant on The Voice.
He later appeared on I'm A Celebrity in 2021.
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