'DWTS' star Sharna Burgess admits past meth addiction as a teen, recalls her struggles
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: 'Dancing With The Stars' pro, Sharna Burgess, recently revealed her struggles with meth addiction on her podcast, Old-ish.
Sharna, along with her fiance Brian Austin Green and their friend, Randy Spelling, host a podcast where they discuss life and their careers. In the latest episode of the podcast, Sharna admitted to being addicted to meth as a teen and that she had started smoking it at age 17.
She reveals the moment when she realized that she needed to stop. "This was at the end of probably being awake for three days, and we were sitting in the backyard of someone's house and a crack pipe was being passed around with meth in it," she recalled.
She admitted that at that point, she "had been smoking meth now for a while. Not every day, but on and off."
She elaborated on the moment, "I was sitting there, watching this pipe being passed around and the universe, God - whoever you call it - gave me this moment and I saw everybody sitting opposite me with complete clarity of what my future looked like."
Sharna remembered admitting to herself, "I have no will power with this. If it is around me, I will go back to it."
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Sharna Burgess' euphoric party turns into a nightmare
During the podcast's episode, Sharna recalled a scary incident that occured when she was at a rave and it quickly turned into a nightmare.
"I was incredibly dehydrated and had taken too many drugs. I began foaming at the mouth," she added and said, "I didn't go into convulsions or anything, but I was taken over to the paramedics and they looked after me."
The dancer shared that multiple factors, including her life at home and her relationship with her dad, had contributed to her drug use. She explained, "I was very, very uncomfortable in my reality, so I would escape to this place of euphoria."
The dancing pro said that her mom did have her suspicions, and would ask her to text her and let her know she was ok.
Sharna then revealed that the reason she had started using the drug was to mask the pain from a knee injury.
The DWTS pro said, "I represented my country at the World Championships. I was an athlete, the best in the country at the time, and because of a knee injury, I fell off."
Although, she soon realised she needed to get away from her addiction and return to dancing.
Sharna Burgess dubs dance as her 'safe place'
Sharna then spoke to her family about her addiction and they moved to Melbourne, Australia, to get away, and she got back to dance.
Sharna reiterated that dance was the thing that kept her sane and was her "safe space."
Sharna Burgess was 'shocked' by 'DWTS' Season 32 snub
'Dancing With The Stars' Season 32 has already premiered and the viewers have noticed Sharna Burgess' absence in the ballroom.
Sharna, who took a temporary leave of absence last year after welcoming her first child with now-fiancé Brian Austin Green, confirmed on her podcast that she wasn't asked to return.
Sharna shared that it was tough since she wasn't expecting the snub. Meanwhile, in an interview with People, she opined, "The universe has been guiding me in a different direction."
She further stated that she had not closed the door, in case the show will offer her another opportunity next season.
She added, "I can be deeply saddened by the fact that I don’t get to be in the ballroom this season, and I can also truly love the show and want to support it and want to cheer them on."
New episodes of 'DWTS' Season 32 air every Tuesday at 8 pm ET on ABC and Disney+.
