Andrew Zimmern Gets Candid About "Deranged, Drugged, and Drunk" Past
He never wants to go back to those "dangerous" days.
Chef and TV host Andrew Zimmern has shared stories of his past, which involved drugs and alcoholism — but never before with quite this level of candor and vulnerability.
On Instagram, the chef just shared a photo of himself in his earlier days, hoisting a glass of red wine high, as if in a toast. Nominally, it was a #throwbackThursday moment — but there was much more to that moment in time, as he explained in his caption.
"Throwaway your life throwback Thursday pic," he wrote. "1982 or so, deranged drunk and drugged. I was a dangerous mess and still took almost a decade to sober up." His series of hashtags included "#grateful."
He added, "I don’t think I ever posted a pic like this before. The smile on the outside is a mask. The pain inside was unimaginable and indescribable. Thankfully I don’t feel that way or live that way anymore."
