While visiting one of Lamar Odom’s treatment centers on Jersey Shore, Ronnie opens up about a “rock bottom” moment with his daughter amid his addiction battle.
Ronnie Ortiz-Margo is still hoping to show his roommates he’s a changed man, opening up about his battle with addiction on Jersey Shore Family Vacation as he took on a speaking engagement at a treatment center.
The reality TV star agreed to talk with other patients at one of Lamar Odom’s treatment centers in California, explaining he sees some similarities between their respective addiction journeys. Odom, of course, also struggled with drug use and nearly died while at a Las Vegas brothel.
“I want to prove to my roommates and friends I’m not who I used to be. I don’t even know who that person was,” Ron said in a confessional on Thursday’s new episode, before the visit. “I’m on a path to positivity. I want peace and happiness and that’s what I want to bring to people’s lives.”
On next week’s #JSFamilyVacation, Ron’s making moves! Tune in on Jerzdays at 8p on @mtv 👏 pic.twitter.com/t7fsUGlg2M
— Jersey Shore (@JerseyShore) September 27, 2024
@JerseyShore
He also explained that he hoped to use his platform to show others that they can come back from their own struggles.
In a confessional before speaking with patients at the Vanity Center, Ron explained, “My rock bottom was definitely two years ago. I lost everything. I lost my job. I almost lost my daughter. I ended up losing my house. Everything I loved and cherished, was gone. Feeling like that is a feeling I never want to feel again.”
Then, talking with the group, he explained that he started falling into addiction at a young age. Despite going to rehab for the first time in 2019, the treatment didn’t quite take and there “was kind of like a buildup” before “something big happened” with him a couple of years later.
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“I got in trouble with the law and then I got a phone call that I was losing my daughter,” he recalled. “I was like, ‘Wow.’ Unfortunately, she was there to see my actions that day, when everything went down and when I tried to talk to her, she wouldn’t even look at me,” he then shared. “That was heartbreaking to me. At that point it was like, I can’t live this moment again.”
Though he didn’t get into specifics, it seems Ron was referring to his 2021 arrest for domestic violence. Around the same time, the reality star left Jersey Shore to seek treatment for mental health issues — a decision that came after a string of legal problems — but has been attempting to make amends with his costars in the time since.
“Feeling Ariana’s disappointment, I felt like I failed,” Ron continued on the episode. “Your job is to protect your child. That’s something I should have protected her from and I didn’t.”
“At the end of the day, she has to deal with the s–t that I’ve done growing up and I don’t want to put that on her,” he also told the group, before adding in a confessional that he’s “becoming a better person.”
“I’m happy, I’m healthy, I have my daughter and that’s all that matters,” he concluded.
Jersey Shore Family Vacation airs Thursdays on MTV.
