Celebrity Rehab

Troubled actor Jeff Conaway left VH1's Celebrity Rehab prematurely and was unable to complete his treatment for his addiction to alcohol, cocaine and painkillers.  However, the 57-year-old actor, most known for playing Kenickie in the iconic 1978 film adaptation of Grease, isn't throwing in the towel just yet.

"It's not over, I'm gonna go back in," Conway said, expressing his desire to return for another round of Celebrity Rehab.  He also insisted that the recent passing of his mother is not what made him fall off the wagon.  “I miss her a lot, but I didn't go back to using over that."

On Celebrity Rehab, Jeff Conaway, as well as eight other celebrities, was under the strict supervision of famed clinician Dr. Drew Pinsky.  According to Pinsky, Conaway was “getting better” as the treatment progressed, but met a crucial roadblock when the pain from a back injury he recently sustained suddenly worsened.

“As a clinician, I was looking at him,” Pinksy told VH1.  “Forget the context, forget the addiction, forget the pain-seeking, whatever, I knew there was something very, very wrong.”

So, Pinksy approached Conaway and told him that he would need to undergo surgery immediately, and in the process, would be given medication.

“There was no option,” Pinsky said.  “I sent him to two neurosurgeons, who both said that he needed an operation, and he went and had it… And, by the way, had he not been detoxed and off meds, we wouldn't have had any idea what was wrong with him.  Now that he's had the operations and he's stabilized, now we can go after him and really work on his sobriety.  We're still after him.  We're gonna get him.”

Jeff Conaway, meanwhile, acknowledged that he still needs to work on his painkiller addiction, which is why he is very much open to doing another season of Celebrity Rehab, which recently concluded its first season and will be airing a reunion special tonight at 10pm on VH1.


-Lisa Claustro, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
Source: WENN, VH1
(Image Courtesy of VH1)