Jackie ‘O’ Henderson has opened up about a shock new career change after revealing her past battles with drugs and alcohol.
The 49-year-old radio host stunned listeners on Thursday as she shared harrowing details of her journey with addiction while speaking to her co-host Kyle Sandilands on their radio show.
Jackie has since revealed her dream to open her own rehab centre and has already started looking at property for the facility.
Speaking with the Sydney Morning Herald, Jackie shared her plans and said the centre would be ideally situated in a bushland setting and be affordable for all.
The multi-millionaire broadcaster added that she has been looking at up to 20 hectares of bushland south-west of Sydney as a possible site for the centre.
‘I can only speak to my experience, because my addiction is so different to anyone else’s,’ Jackie said in the candid interview,
‘But people can ask me anything they want, and I’m OK with that.
‘I brought this up, I put it out there myself, so I’m well and truly OK talking about it. I’m excited that I can be more authentic than I’ve ever been.’
Jackie ‘O’ Henderson has opened up about a shock new career change after revealing her past battles with drugs and alcohol
Jackie also shared how she felt it was important to open up about her past addiction and turn her back on feelings of shame.
‘Who cares if someone judges me? I’m tired of burying the parts of me that aren’t perfect in everybody’s eyes,’ she said.
It comes after the svelte beauty shared how her personal story with addiction with listeners during the Kyle and Jackie O Show this week.
Fighting back tears, Jackie shared that she checked into rehab facility the Betty Ford Clinic in California in November 2022, when she took an extended break from The Kyle and Jackie O Show that she previously claimed was due to long Covid.
Jackie has since revealed her dream to open her own rehab centre and has already started looking at property for the facility
Known for treating Hollywood stars including Keith Urban, Robert Downey Jr. and Lindsay Lohan, Betty Ford charges anywhere from $45,000 to $90,000 AUD for a month-long stay, depending on the program.
Jackie revealed on-air that her long-time friend Gemma had been instrumental into getting Jackie into rehab.
Jackie emotionally credited Gemma with saving her life by persuading her to check into the Betty Ford Clinic.
She recalled: ‘It came to a head and [Gemma] was such a great friend. She said ”I’m sorry Jackie, but you’re not going to taper off this, it will never work. I’m checking you into rehab at the end of the week and we’re going”.
‘I said ”don’t be ridiculous, Gemma like that is such overkill. I don’t have a problem that bad that I need to go to Betty Ford”.’
‘And she said no, we’re going and we’re doing it and I thank God she did that,’ Jackie admitted.
‘Thank God there was someone out there like her because I believe she saved my life.’
She said they caught a night flight out of Australia and boarded at the ‘last moment’ to avoid being seen and then jetted over to LA, where Gemma stayed with her for two days before she checked into the Betty Ford Clinic.
She said Gemma accompanied her to LA and helped her to get on the plane ‘undetected’ as she discussed keeping her addiction a secret for two ‘long and painful years’.
Fighting back tears, Jackie shared that she checked into rehab facility the Betty Ford Clinic in California in November 2022, when she took an extended break from Kyle and Jackie O that she previously claimed was due to long Covid
At the time, Kyle – who was unaware of Jackie’s drug addiction – told their listeners Jackie was taking a break to ‘focus on her health’ after contracting Covid.
Instead, she was secretly flown out of Australia to be treated for 28 days at the world famous rehab facility for an addiction to painkillers, sleeping pills and alcohol.
At the height of her addiction, Jackie took around 10-12 Stilnox/Zolpidem sleeping pills and 24 Panadeine Forte a day and would take them while drinking alcohol.
Stilnox users are warned not to drink alcohol as it can slow the respiratory system and make it difficult to wake up.
Jackie said Betty Ford told her not to change ‘anything’ about her usage before arriving as it could be ‘dangerous’ so she was still taking the pills the day she flew out to the US.
Jackie also said she went ‘back and forth’ deciding whether to share the news publicly before detailing the extent of her addiction in her upcoming memoir The Whole Truth, slated for release on October 29.
This article was originally published by a www.dailymail.co.uk . Read the Original article here. .