The Hills' Jason Wahler Celebrates His Sobriety with 'Before and After' Photos
Jason Wahler has reason to celebrate!
The Hills alum, who also appeared on MTV’s Laguna Beach, took to Instagram on Thursday evening to celebrate his sobriety with his fans and followers.
Wahler, 30, shared a three-photo collage in the social media post, which included his old mugshot and a current picture of himself with arms wide open. The photo, which showcased the National Addiction Foundation’s logo at the top, also included the phrase, “You will never know how good it is until you get sober.”
A post shared by Jason Wahler (@jasonwahler) on Mar 23, 2017 at 11:58am PDT
Since overcoming his battle with addiction, the reality star has been open about his past struggle with substance abuse.
In the wake of Philip Seymour Hoffman’s death (the actor died from a mix of heroin, cocaine and more drugs), Wahler wrote a personal essay for The Huffington Post, in which he explained how he deftly kept his addiction a secret from his friends. “A few years ago, I would host parties at my house in L.A. where there would be 50-100 people raging out of control. While everyone thought I was enjoying the party as much as they were, little did they know I was secretly going into the master bathroom and snorting as much coke and drinking as much alcohol as I could,” Wahler revealed.
And in May of last year, Wahler opened up about his “downward spiral” and told Entertainment Tonight that the fame that came from his time on Laguna Beach “ignited my addiction and things started to domino effect right before our own eyes, and before you knew it, it got out of control and I couldn’t handle it.”
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After opting out of college in favor of continuing in his relationship with costar Lauren Conrad in The Hills, Wahler became dependent on alcohol and cocaine.
“I became a totally different person active in my addiction versus when I’m sober and living life in recovery. It’s a totally different mentality and thought process - the way my brain operates, it’s completely different,” he said.
After a string of arrests, he hit rock bottom. “My addiction drove me to suicide,” he revealed. “Not contemplation - actually attempting suicide - and somebody found me and that’s why I’m still here today. I’m very grateful for that.”
But on July 23, 2010, Wahler cleaned up, and now operates a sober-living facility called Widespread Recovery in Orange County, California. In 2013, he married Ashley Slack, with whom he is expecting a daughter.
“As I always say, It’s not hard to get sober, it’s hard to stay sober,’ ” said Wahler.
