Jackass star Steve-O has revealed how he overcame sex addiction by committing to more than a year of celibacy – which ultimately led to him meeting ‘the love of his life.’
The star, 49, whose real name is Stephen Gilchrist Glover, was skyrocketed into the spotlight in the early 2000s after he started doing a series of shocking and over-the-top stunts as part of the MTV comedy series Jackass, alongside a slew of other comedians like Johnny Knoxville, Bam Margera, Chris Pontius, and Ryan Dunn.
But now, the TV sensation has opened up about how he became so ‘out of control with drugs and alcohol’ during the early years of his fame, which lead to him being arrested multiple times, evicted from his home, and eventually ‘locked up in a psychiatric ward.’
He said things got so ‘tremendously dark’ he also started ‘acting out sexually’ – revealing he would pick fans out from meet and greets to sleep with, only to ghost them soon after.
Jackass star Steve-O has revealed how he overcame sex addiction by committing to more than a year of celibacy – which ultimately led to him meeting ‘the love of his life’
The star, 49, was skyrocketed into the spotlight after he started doing a series of shocking and over-the-top stunts as part of the MTV series Jackass. He’s seen with his castmates in 2002
But now, Steve-O has opened up about how he became so ‘out of control with drugs and alcohol’ that he was arrested multiple times and eventually put in a psychiatric ward
He eventually got professional help, and decided to become sex-free for 431 days – which he credited with helping him to turn his life around.
Steve-O spoke out about his journey during a recent appearance on StyleLikeU and Man Enough’s podcast, What’s Underneath: Masculinity.
He said things got so ‘tremendously dark’ he also started ‘acting out sexually’ – revealing he would pick fans out from meet and greets to sleep with, only to ghost them soon after. He’s seen in 2008
The entertainer explained that he set out to be a star after dropping out of college due to bad grades.
‘It was very clear to me that I was not very well equipped to keep a normal job. I was lacking the basic survival skills to navigate the world,’ he recalled. ‘It was a tragedy how much of a loser I was.’
He spent a few years in the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Clown College but after he graduated, he found he ‘was not welcomed into the world’ of comedy and faced a slew of ‘rejections’ everywhere he turned.
But ‘self-absorbed and ego driven’ Steve-O didn’t give up on his dream, and he started taping his tricks and sending the footage to every company he could.
Eventually, one of his videos ended up in the hands of future Jackass director Jeff Tremaine, who asked him to be a part of the show.
While the reality star said he felt like ‘he finally belonged’ when it premiered, he admitted it was a ‘double edged sword’ because he struggled with the immense pressure to succeed.
He eventually got professional help, and decided to become sex-free for 431 days – which he credited with helping him to turn his life around. He’s seen with his fiancée, Lux Wright, in 2019
Steve-O spoke out about his journey during a recent appearance on StyleLikeU and Man Enough’s podcast, What’s Underneath: Masculinity. He’s seen with the hosts
When asked when his ‘rock bottom’ moment came, he said it was at the premiere of the second Jackass movie in 2006. He’s seen at the premiere
‘It’s so tricky to not tie [the numbers] to your self esteem,’ he said. ‘It became very clear to me that I have got to find separation between who I am and the persona of Steve-O.’
Steve-O compared working with his fellow Jackass stars to ‘magic,’ but admitted that their wild lifestyle was becoming a little too much for him to handle.
Steve-O (seen in 2005) said: ‘It was like magic, I knew we weren’t gonna beat that. I felt like, it’s all downhill from here. I remember going to that premiere and feeling like I was at my funeral’
He also explained that he couldn’t shake the fear that it would all be ripped away from him at any moment.
When asked when his ‘rock bottom’ moment came, he said it was at the premiere of the second Jackass movie in 2006.
‘We more out of control with drugs and alcohol and sex than can even be believed,’ he shared.
‘We were taking the biggest risks, we were doing the craziest stuff, and everything just worked. It was like magic.
‘I knew we were never gonna beat that. I just felt like, it’s all downhill from here. I remember going to that premiere and feeling like I was at my funeral. I was so mad at that red carpet because it felt like it was like the end.’
He also suffered from a ‘major trauma’ a few years earlier, when his mom had an aneurysm that left her ‘heinously disabled both physically and mentally.’
‘It was like a suffering that shouldn’t exist. I felt very angry at any God that would allow that to happen,’ he recalled.
He recalled sending out an alarming email to everyone he knew in 2008, in which he admitted that he was ‘ready to die.’ Afterwards, he was put on an involuntary 72-hour psychiatric hold
He got ‘sober and clean’ after that, but after he stopped using drugs and alcohol, Steve-O admitted that he started to treat women ‘terribly.’ He’s seen in 2011
‘Everything was getting tremendously dark. I can’t really describe all the pain ’cause there was so much of it.’
Steve-O’s life began to fall apart in 2008 – he was arrested for felony cocaine possession, which he plead guilty to, and got kicked out of his home.
Soon after, the TV personality recalled sending out an alarming email to everyone he knew, in which he admitted that he was ‘ready to die.’
Afterwards, he said the ‘Jackass guys staged an intervention’ and had him put on an involuntary 72-hour psychiatric hold.
‘I’ve been clean and sober ever since then,’ he revealed.
But the former MTV star’s problems didn’t end there. Soon after he stopped using drugs and alcohol, Steve-O admitted that he started to treat women ‘terribly,’ which left him in ‘an endless cycle of shame.’
‘Once I had a foundation of sobriety, I found myself really acting out sexually a lot,’ he continued.
‘I started touring the comedy clubs, I would do this meet and greet after the show that was like a glorified audition to find a partner to act out with that night.
‘I developed this pattern where I would meet a woman and become infatuated with her … and pour on the charm.
‘Once she fell for me, then like a light switch, I would lose interest in her. I would just ghost.
‘I would feel so terrible about myself after doing that because not only was I not treating them the way I want to be treated, I was actually treating them specifically the way I most feared myself being treated.
‘It was just like, using people and throwing them away. I knew exactly what a piece of s**t I was. It was an endless cycle of shame.’
Eventually, Steve-O said he ‘just couldn’t act out anymore’ so he ‘started seeing a sex therapist,’ who recommended that he start ‘an outpatient sex addict rehab’ program.
Eventually, Steve-O (seen in 2015) said he ‘just couldn’t act out anymore’ so he ‘started seeing a sex therapist,’ who recommended that he start ‘an outpatient sex addict rehab’ program
He is now engaged to stylist Lux, who he started dating in 2016. He gushed: ‘I never once doubted for a second that I wanted to be with her.’ They’re seen in 2021
In the end, the 49-year-old said he’s extremely ‘proud’ of how far he’s come. He concluded, ‘I don’t have any secrets, I like who I am. And I’m grateful to have found meaning in my life’
He shared: ‘I had some starts and stops and some stumbles, but ultimately, when I got out of that sex addict rehab, they recommended a period or celibacy between like 30 and 90 days.
‘And I ended up going 431 days. I felt strongly that my mission was to become the man that the love of my life deserves.’
Steve-O said it had become clear to him that ‘in order for him to be happy and fulfilled in his later years,’ he had to find someone who would would ‘be by his side’ long-term.
And the Jackass alum did just that. He is now engaged to a stylist named Lux Wright, who he started dating in 2016.
‘I met her on a job, we went on a bunch of dates and we didn’t even kiss for over a month,’ he gushed.
‘I was fully transparent and explained to her that I was coming in with a terrible track record for relationships.
‘But we did everything correctly. We’ve been together for approaching seven years now, and I never once doubted for a second that I wanted to be with her.’
In the end, the 49-year-old said he’s extremely ‘proud’ of how far he’s come. He concluded, ‘I don’t have any secrets, I like who I am.
‘I’m proud of how I live my life, I’m proud of who I’ve become. I’m profoundly grateful to have found meaning in my life.’