‘Big Brother’ Winner Jackson Michie Was Going Through Drug Withdrawal on the Show

Jackson Michie is opening up about his secret struggle during Big Brother. The Season 21 winner, 25, revealed on TikTok Friday that he was going through withdrawal from a number of substances while competing in the house, captioning his confession, “My most terrifying post yet. I hid addiction from the world, won the show, and won back my life.” Now proudly “drug-free,” Michie said in a subsequent video he hoped to hold himself accountable by sharing his story.

“Before going into Big Brother, I was addicted to Xanax, struggled with Adderall and cocaine, and I took my last Xanax less than two days prior to moving into this show,” Michie explained. “At the age of 23, I literally went through Xanax rehab, post-surgery recovery, on national television for 100 days and beat 15 people to be the winner of Big Brother 21.” Now looking back on his journey, the Big Brother winner said, “I don’t want to go back down the same paths that I’ve been down and live the same life that I’ve lived.”

This isn’t the first time Michie has discussed his drug abuse, opening up about his battle with addiction during an appearance on Lance Bass’ The Daily podcast in 2019. “I had just started taking that prescription before coming onto the show. Sometimes we use prescriptions as a crutch, I’ve been there,” he said, confessing to the *NSYNC member he thought he “was gonna have to self-evict” a few days into the season due to the withdrawal symptoms, but was able to keep going. Michie also credited the CBS show at the time with helping him get and stay clean. “It’s what got me back to me,” he explained at the time.

Michie also found love during his time in the Big Brother house, meeting and getting involved with Holly Allen. In January 2020, the two announced they were moving in together in a Los Angeles apartment, and all seemed to be going well until June, when they announced they were going their separate ways. “Life works in crazy ways, and this past year has been no exception. Through the ups, the downs, the highs, and the lows.. there has been one constant through it all and that’s the amazing woman standing next to me. Life has continued to work in ways neither of us expected, and sadly life will be taking us in different directions,” Michie wrote in a statement on Instagram at the time.

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