Jeff Lewis opened up about his dependence on alcohol during an episode of his SiriusXM Radio series, Jeff Lewis Live, on Tuesday, November 26.
While chatting with his friends Kelly Wagner and Eden Sassoon, who previously starred on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, the former Flipping Out star revealed he’s been using alcohol to get through hardships and admitted to being a “functioning alcoholic.”
“Over the last two years, I have been leaning on alcohol,” he began. “Last night, I made a commitment to myself that I was going to go one night without having a drink and I didn’t do that. And now today, I’m beating myself up with guilt and I feel like, especially over everything that’s happened over the last 24 months, I am leaning a little bit on alcohol because it numbs the pain, it helps me with my stress, it helps me relax, and it’s become a routine, frankly.”
As he looked back at his failed night of sobriety, Jeff came to the conclusion that he should remove all alcohol from his home.
“I think that would literally, probably cut out alcohol consumption by like 60 percent because I drink home alone… [But] it’s scary to think [about] cutting it all out,” he explained.
As the episode continued, Jeff turned his attention to the way in which his drinking impacted his strained relationship with his ex-boyfriend Gage Edward. He said he wishes he could turn back the clock two years.
“I would do things very differently than I did,” he admitted. “I disrespected my ex and I disrespected my relationship and he disrespected me in the relationship. And we did irreparable damage. But if I could, I would redo it. I would do things differently, with or without kids.”
Jeff and Gage share a daughter, three-year-old Monroe, who they welcomed in 2016 via surrogate. They have been feuding over custody ever since they parted ways in January.
Although Jeff is hopeful that he and Gage will soon get to a better place and establish a friendship, he couldn’t answer Eden’s question about what that friendship would look like.
“This is too deep for me right now. This is too deep. I mean, I just admitted I’m a functioning alcoholic. This is a big show for me,” he pointed out.
Flipping Out has not yet been renewed for a 12th season.
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