“Puberty was hell for me,”; explains musician Rick Springfield to host Jeff Probst on Wednesday’s show. The Grammy Award-winning singer says it was a combination of “completely failing”; at school and his lack of social skills that lead to his suicide attempt.
In his autobiography Late, Late at Night, Rick reveals at age 16 he hanged himself in his parents shed, but was saved when the rope failed. And now the Jessie’s Girl rocker shares new details with the Emmy-winning talk show host about his deep depression as a teen: “I felt really ugly and I felt really unattractive to girls. I didn’t have the gift of the gab at all, there were guys my age who were dancing the social dance at school and taking girls out and I just couldn’t do that… I didn’t know how to do that. And it was really hard for me.”;
Back then Rick says, depression wasn’t addressed like it is today and he offers advice to teens who are going through dark times. “When you’re at that point, you think that’s how it’s going to be for the rest of your life, and you need someone – you know I say in the book, “if you’re feeling this, give it a week or two weeks or a month or a year. It will change,”; he shares with the audience.
The ’80s heartthrob says it was a long time before he felt comfortable in his own skin and “joining bands saved me.”; But life in the limelight he soon discovered was a double edge sword, and his exploits on the road lead to a type of sex addiction. “I didn’t do drugs,”; he reveals. “Sex and depression were my two issues… and sex was a great way to get validation.”;
Watch Rick speak candidly about his relationships and depression in the video from The Jeff Probst Show below!
