Mary-Kate Extends Rehab Stay

Rep says she will stay for six weeks instead of four, plans to attend NYU in the fall unaffected

By Joal Ryan Jul 15, 2004 3:55 AMTags

It's going to take Mary-Kate Olsen longer than a New York minute to fix what's ailing her.

The tween queen's publicist confirmed to E! Wednesday that the 18-year-old will remain in rehab for six weeks, not the four as originally announced.

Mary-Kate, who with not-quite-identical sibling Ashley, has made a mint starring in family-friendly videos and endorsing kid-friendly product lines, checked into an undisclosed "multi-treatment facility" in mid-June, for what was later described as "an eating-relating disorder."

Reports have pegged the facility as Utah's pricey Cirque Lodge, and Mary-Kate's "health-related issue" as anorexia with a touch of something a bit more illicit.

The Olsen camp has flat-out denied any drug connection, saying "Mary-Kate was not admitted for drugs--period."

Cirque Lodge, Mary-Kate's reputedly current home away from home, specializes in alcohol and drug dependency.

To E!, Olsen rep Michael Pagnotta reiterated that the facility where Mary-Kate is being treated deals with a variety of patient issues. Anorexia, he said, is a condition that typically requires a 90-day stay.

At six weeks, Mary-Kate would log about 42 days in rehab.

If her stay gets extended again, she'll be coming up against another deadline: School.

The sisters Olsen are both enrolled at New York University. Pagnotta said the plan remains for the two to begin their studies there in the fall.

The Olsens may not need higher education to help forge a fallback career--not when the Full House vets are worth a combined $300 million--but, after a rough summer, they may want to check out show-biz alternatives at NYU.

In May, their big-screen starring debut, New York Minute, disappeared faster than one, making back less than half its $30 million budget. And last week, the twins were removed from the dairy industry's mustache-baring "Got Milk?" print campaign "out of sensitivity" for Mary-Kate's "situation."