Big Brother's Jackson Michie Says He Was Secretly Recovering From Drug Addiction on the Show

Jackson Michie, who won Big Brother in 2019, got candid about his battle with drug addiction on TikTok.

By Kaitlin Reilly Jan 24, 2021 11:28 PMTags
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More than a year after winning Big Brother, Jackson Michie is opening up about his secret battle with drug addiction. 

The reality star, 25, who competed on season 21 of the CBS series, got candid on TikTok about his experience on the show. He captioned the video, "My most terrifying post yet. I hid addiction from the world, won the show, and won back my life."

Responding to a video asking for a "one-in-a-million" story that you "can't believe happened to you," Jackson explained that he had a blood clot near his heart less than one month before joining the show, which broadcasted the contestants for 24/7 as they competed for $500,000. However, it wasn't just his recovery from surgery that made his time on the show all the more challenging. 

"Before going into Big Brother, I was addicted to Xanax, struggled with Adderall and cocaine, and I took my last Xanax less than two days prior to moving into this show," he shared with his followers. "At the age of 23, I literally went through Xanax rehab, post-surgery recovery, on national television for 100 days and beat 15 people to be the winner of Big Brother 21."

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In a follow-up video, Jackson said that he's now using cannabis instead of prescription medication, and that he makes TikTok videos in order to hold himself "accountable." As he explained, "I don't want to go back down the same paths that I've been down and live the same life that I've lived."

Sonja Flemming/CBS via Getty Images

Jackson is holding himself accountable in other ways as well. Last summer, following the murder of George Floyd and the subsequent Black Lives Matter protests, some fans criticized Jackson for an Instagram post he shared that did not explicitly say "Black Lives Matter," to which the Big Brother alum penned an apology.

 

"I'm sorry for not being educated enough to understand that I will never understand what it's like to be African American, to be a person of color, to be Black in this country and in this world," Jackson said in an Instagram video. "I will never understand that. But, I stand with you, and I am sorry. Black lives matter, and I am sorry."

 

@jackson_michie

##stitch with @abrahampiper my most terrifying post yet ????. I hid addiction from the world, won the show, and won back my life. Proudly drug free ??

? original sound - Jackson Michie

Jackson, who split from fellow Big Brother contestant Holly Allen in 2020, is currently fueling dating rumors with Cheer star Morgan Simianer.

Watch the video above.