Jeremy McConnell has revealed he is 18 months sober after suffering a crippling drug addiction since he was 21.
The model opened up about his upbringing and how his addiction affected his family.
In a candid interview with Jennifer Zamparelli on her show on RTÉ 2fm, he spoke of how he lost his mother, sister and brother as a teenager, but still had a great upbringing.
He explained:"My mum brought me up and then when she passed I moved in with my dad in Bray and then I moved to the Northside to Sutton.
"My dad looked after me perfectly", RSVP Live reports.
The Celebrity Big Brother star opened up about how he lost his father just before he went into prison, spending Christmas in a cell.
His father passed just after witnessing Jeremy on one of his cocaine binges something that haunts the reality star to this day: "My dad walked in on me just before he died on quite a heavy session.
"At that time that was the lowest point.
"I owe it to myself and my parents and the people in my family not to be like that because I was raised better."
The former Mr. Dublin revealed how, even though his athletic lifestyle lead him to avoid alcohol until he was 18, he had his first experience with cocaine aged 21.
He said: "It started that I'd do it for partying, but then it would turn into I started doing it when people weren't around.
"It could have been the social scene I was around. It was so accessible."
Jeremy gave advice on how to avoid falling down the rabbit hole into a life a drink and drugs: "Don't project your downfall on anyone else.
"You have to believe in yourself and hold your hand up and then you can try and move on.
"Watch your circle, it's very tough in your teenage years, but just hold back, you don't have to do it to be cool, to fit in.
"What goes up, must come down."
It's all on the up for Jeremy now though, as he recently announced his girlfriend, Katie McCreath is pregnant with their first child, his second.
He shares son Caben with reality star Stephanie Davis, with whom he had an explosive relationship both inside and outside the Big Brother House.
