Reality TV Star Reveals Relapse

Austin Shepherd is opening up about relapsing while filming Love Island: Beyond the Villa. Prior to his interview about the difficult time, he said he’s received outreach from his Love Island co-stars who expressed their concerns for him.

Shepherd has been open about an opioid addiction during his time in the spotlight. He said he first got clean after undergoing a psychedelic experience. This time around, he tried a different approach. 

“I know how this road goes. I have plenty friends that are not here today that have sadly passed from it, and it’s either death, or a long life of misery,” he said in a video posted to TMZ’s account. “That was my moment of clarity, finally. At first, I was going to try to do things myself. But when you’re in that mode, you really can’t do things yourself, especially once you get past a certain point, it’s impossible. Then there was one night, I’m sitting there going crazy, I hadn’t slept in four nights. I was very sick, I couldn’t sit still. I was like, ‘I need to go somewhere medically.’ I was researching, I went on Google, and was like, ‘Medical detox near me.’ My first night there, I had a seizure and everything. They had to take me to the ER. And then after that, they took real good care of me. This place called the Haven Detox.”

He revealed at the time that he was 11 days sober and living with his father. “It’s nice to have him here. It’s nice to have that support, family support, especially so fresh after it,” he noted. When asked if production or any of his castmates were aware of what was happening with him during filming, he was honest and said they were pretty aloof.

“No one knew,” he said. “Honestly, it’s my problem too. I’m a pretty manipulative, functional addict until it becomes so unmanageable like how it got. I can bullsh-t for a while.”