90 Day Fiance star Ashley Martson opened up about her decision to check into rehab, and discussed the root of her depression.
Martson, who divorced her husband and 90 Day Fiance co-star Jay Smith in April, told Radar Online Thursday she was checking into rehab on Monday, June 17. She will be seeking treatment at a mental wellness retreat for women in North Carolina.
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“At this time, I’m focusing on my happiness and my future to better myself. I appreciate the support from TLC and the audience of 90 Day Fiance,” the mother of two said in a statement.
On Thursday, Martson also sat down with E! News, explained that her split from Smith is not the only reason she is seeking treatment.
“A lot of me deciding to seek inpatient help had to do with Jay [Smith], but I was kidnapped and raped in 2005,” the TLC star said. “I am always in fight or flight mode, I am always on edge and I have never ever gone to therapy over it.”
Martson added, “I realized after three failed relationships, that it’s not all of them, and I need to work on myself… And I realize all of my failed relationships do go back to what happened when I was 19. And it’s time I deal with it.”
Martson said she never “actually felt depressed” until her divorce from Smith.
“I have never dealt with anything like I have been feeling right now, with Jay,” she said. “Jay wants to work things out but I am not interested at this point… I am trying to cope and move on from what I thought was going to be the marriage of a lifetime, and it’s not.”
Smith and Martson were featured on 90 Day Fiance Season 6 and got married, but their relationship was rocky from the start. Just days after they married, Smith downloaded a dating app, and their marriage never really recovered. They tried to save the relationship on 90 Day Fiance: Happily Ever After?, but things ultimately did not work out. She first filed for divorce in January, but the papers were withdrawn amid her hospitalization for lupus symptoms. She filed again in April in Pennsylvania, claiming the “defendant committed adultery during the course of the marriage.”
Martson and Smith also quit the 90 Day Fiance franchise in February.
“We filmed for Happily Ever After? and we have notified them that we quit the show,” Martson told Radar Online at the time. “The final straw was when our story started to become inconsistent because of what we were being asked to hide and not tell followers.”
During her time on the reality series, Martson also struggled with the constant attention from social media followers who criticized her.
For example, fans pestered her about wearing what looked like a wedding ring after her divorce in a photo she posted on Instagram. “Just a beautiful ring [Jess Awad Jewelry] sent me,” she explained to fans.
In May, one fan accused her of creating the relationship drama for attention, citing her two filings for divorce. “Yes, I had a change of heart and went back and tried to fight for my marriage the first time,” she replied.
New episodes of 90 Day Fiance: Happily Ever After? air Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on TLC. 90 Day Fiance: The Other Way airs Mondays at 9 p.m. ET.
Photo credit: Mark Sagliocco/Getty Images
