Rob Lowe explained People The tragic “final wake-up call” that drives him to sober up.
Describing his journey to sobriety as a “step-by-step decision,” Lowe explained that he first realized something had to change when an infamous sex tape featuring the star and two other women (one of whom was just 16) was leaked to the public in 1988.
But his darkest moment came after his grandfather suffered a heart attack in 1990. “I remember it like it was yesterday,” Parks and Recreation The actress said she heard her mother's panicked voice on her answering machine. “'Pick up, pick up,'” she said, “because my grandfather had had a heart attack. I couldn't handle it in the state I was in, and I had to sleep and wake up to handle it.”
Lowe went to bed, but continued to drink tequila throughout the night. “Who doesn’t keep a bottle of Cuervo Gold by their bedside table?” he joked. “That was the final wake-up call. I’ve been sober ever since.”
Once he realized he had a drinking problem, Lowe did everything he could to cure his illness. “I had no doubts [and] “I didn't think, 'Maybe I'll stay sober for a while,'” he explained.
Lowe immediately checked into rehab, a stay he said was “a relief” because he was “so ready” to move beyond his partying days.
“I learned the tools you need to change your life if you have the self-honesty to do it,” Lowe said. “You only stop when you're ready, period.”