The continuing story of Jessica Sierra's court-ordered yearlong-rehab visit has been unfolding today even as the hours count down to the premiere tonight of Celebrity Rehab, which features the American Idol alum as one of the addicts. With such a high profile story about the struggles of at least one Celebrity Rehab participant, the show is already starting off on the defensive.

Of course, even if every single participant had emerged from Celebrity Rehab clean and sober for the rest of their lives, the show would still have its critics who think it's exploitative and prurient voyeurism. But the doctor at the heart of it, Dr. Drew Pinsky, defends what the show is doing.

He told VH1's Celebreality blog that the participants understood what would happen on the show, and that the true goal really was treatment, saying, “These people wanted and needed help and they very courageously were willing to do it in front of other people, if it would help other people. Our task was to finally end the nonsense that's tossed about about chemical-dependency treatment or rehab, that it's some kind of vacation. We want to show people what this really is so people can understand how it should go down if they're not getting good treatment, and for people contemplating treatment, hopefully it will encourage them.”

Dr. Pinsky also thinks that people should know the show was supported in a unique way by VH1, and this made the show, in Dr. Pinsky's opinion, more successful and honest than it would have otherwise been.

He said, “God bless VH1 for approaching it the way they did…I don't think any other network could have tolerated it. They didn't understand it going in. How do you explain to someone what this is? How do you say, ‘This is how treatment goes'? You can't sum it up in a sentence. All I could say was, ‘A lot will happen. I can't say what. Please don't reality-show it.' Three days in, [VH1 exec] Jeff Olde came to me and said, ‘We get it. We see what's going on here. If there's anything we can do to support you, let us know. We'll see you in three weeks.' I don't think any other network or any other executive on the planet would have done that. That really allowed the show to be what it is. It really allowed us to keep these people safe and actually treat them.

So to the critics, Dr. Pinksky really just has one message: give the show a chance. “It speaks for itself. Anyone who has been hired to be negative, we've shown them the shows and they've had a 180 degree turnaround. It is treatment. It is the human experience. It doesn't pull any punches.”

- Leslie Seaton, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
Source: CelebrealityBlog.VH1.com
(Image courtesy of VH1)