Fergie Recalls Painful Drug Past: "It Ruins You"
Songbird says being a child star contributed to drug use
By XANA O'NEILL
Updated 2:15 PM EDT, Tue, Oct 13, 2009
Fergie said she was nearly destroyed by her past drug use and struggled with overcoming her addiction to meth.
"It ruins you," she told the Times of London.
In a candid interview with the U.K.-based paper, the Black Eyed Peas songbird said her past dalliances with drugs were largely because she was a child star who was forced to conform to rigid standards.
"What happens when you're a child professional is that you have to be, well, professional. You're taught not to have tantrums, to always people-please," she said. "That's part of how I got into [drugs] later."
Fergie starred on Disney's "Kids Incorporated" from 1984 to 1990.
The songstress, 34, said her drug use began with ecstasy and escalated from there. She said when she was high she'd have bouts of paranoia that caused her to black out the windows of her apartment because she feared FBI agents were watching her.
At one point she thought she had a conversation with a hamper for eight hours.
"It's something I went through," she said. "It's an epidemic, and it's important to talk about it because it's a very, very hard thing to stop."
Fergie has been drug-free for 10 years but still feels the judgment of others when she confesses that she used to be an addict.
"I'm trying to get a thicker skin," she said. "I like to be aware of people's perceptions of me, but when you put it as a priority, as a means to judging your worth, that's when it can be dangerous."
First Published: Oct 13, 2009 12:53 PM EDT
You Might Like
You have 2000 characters left
