According to McLean, bandmates Nick Carter, Howie Dorough, Brian Littrell, and Kevin Richardson once forced themselves into his house for alcohol use intervention.
- Oct 21, 2020
AceShowbiz - AJ McLean's Backstreet Boys bandmates "broke into" his home at the height of his battle with alcohol addiction to stage an intervention.
The "I Want It That Way" hitmaker looked back on the extreme lengths his pals in the group went to in order to convince him to confront his battle with substance abuse.
"When the boys kind of caught on, I missed out on rehearsal," the said during a new interview with "Good Morning America". "They basically broke into my house and they dumped ice water on me while I was passed out in my bed."
The singer recalls he tried to hide his issues but "everybody started to catch on."
"I wasn't me anymore, you know, I was just living a lie," he added.
McLean, who has battled addiction for 20 years, noted that the turning point for him came when his vices started impacting his relationship with wife Rochelle and their daughters, Ava, six, Lyric, three.
"The turning point for me was when I came home, my wife could smell it (alcohol) on my breath and my youngest of my two daughters would not sit with me (sic)," he added.
He is now devoted to recovering "the right way," adding, "There is too much to live for today. My beautiful children, my amazing wife, my career, my brothers. I've never felt more grounded than I do today."
McLean, who recently revealed to People magazine he first tried cocaine the night before he and the Backstreet Boys shot "The Call" promo, has been sober since December (19) and now attends daily 12-step meetings online and checks in with his sponsor six times a day to make sure he doesn't slip up.
He is currently competing on U.S. TV competition show "Dancing With the Stars".
