Colton Haynes: Divorce and mum’s death fuelled ‘destructive’ drug spiral
Colton Haynes said he hit rock bottom in a Los Angeles hotel room. (Christopher Polk/Getty)
Colton Haynes has opened up about how his divorce and the death of his mother led him to get “heavily involved with drugs and alcohol.”
The Arrow star lost his mother, Dana, from cirrhosis of the liver and kidney in March last year, before breaking up with his husband of six months, Jeff Leatham, in May.
Colton Haynes and Jeff Leatham before their marriage. (Charley Gallay/Getty)
He told Attitude magazine that he had a problem with alcohol for years, saying: “In 10 years, there were maybe 25 days I didn’t drink.”
Colton Haynes spiralled into drink and drugs last year
Haynes said his substance abuse problems started after he came out in 2016, but worsened dramatically last year as he endured repeated personal traumas.
“I came out and, in a way, my downward spiral started,” said the actor. “I felt extremely free but at the same time the amount of attention I was getting was making me spin out of control.
“I got married and that didn’t work out. That was extremely public and heartbreaking, and right when that was going on, my mum died.”
“I fell apart. My brain broke.”
— Colton Haynes
He recalled: “At that point I fell apart. My brain broke. I was doing a massive comedy for a studio, showed up to work and got fired on the first day. They said I looked as if I had ‘dead in my eyes’, and I did.
“I got so heavily involved with drugs and alcohol to mask the amount of pain I was feeling that I couldn’t even make some decisions for myself. I was drowning in my own s**t.”
Colton Haynes hit rock bottom in a Los Angeles hotel room
The American actor, who has also starred in Teen Wolf, hit rock bottom when he was committed after a week-long drug and alcohol binge.
“I locked myself in a hotel room at the Waldorf Astoria in Beverly Hills for seven days and was found in my room with these insane bruises all over my body,” he said.
“It looked as if somebody had beaten the s**t out of me. I couldn’t walk, so I was falling everywhere,” he continued, adding that he almost ruptured his kidney.
“I was on such a destructive path that I could not function.
“I lost partial sight in my left eye for a while. I ended up having two seizures. I didn’t know any of this was happening until I was sober enough to remember it.”
“Once I went to treatment, I found this amazing amount of true love for myself.”
— Colton Haynes
Haynes, who has now been sober for six months, said his hospital stay was a “rude awakening.”
He explained: “If anyone else had told me to get help I would be like: ‘F**k you!’ I had to make that decision on my own. I was ready to stop running from my own problems.
“Once I went to treatment, I found this amazing amount of true love for myself, and started figuring out who I am without those vices, and recognising the people in my life who lifted me up instead of tearing me down.”
