ABC/Paula LoboBackstreet Boys’ AJ McLean continues to be open about his struggles with alcohol addition. He admits to People magazine that he’s relapsed over the past year.
“You know, it’s interesting about sobriety with family and with kids — you still have to put yourself first, and that’s been a real big struggle for me,” he says. “Look, I have no shame in saying, I’ve relapsed over the past year. It’s no secret that this is a disease, and that it’s a daily struggle.”
AJ previously entered rehab in 2001 for alcohol addiction. He credits his family — particularly his two young daughters, Ava and Lyric — for helping to keep stay on the right track.
“Are my kids and my wife a huge support, and a huge inspiration? Yes, a hundred percent,” he says. “But, at the same time the biggest problem I deal with, with them, is putting myself first, and not my family first.”
AJ says it’s in his nature to be “Mr. People Pleaser,” but “if you do that too often, then you forget about taking care of yourself, and you do tend to get lost in the sauce. And that’s happened to me numerous times.”
“For me, you don’t beat it,” he says of his addiction. “It’s not like, okay, I’m sober, it’s done. I’ll never drink again. No. You have to work at it daily.”
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