Drew Barrymore Says Machine Gun Kelly's Vulnerability Inspired Her to Open Up About Sobriety

Television By TooFab Staff |
CBS Media Ventures

MGK sits down with Barrymore on Friday's show where he admits he's not okay, which leads to Drew opening up about her own mental health journey.

It's still uncomfortable for a lot of people to be open and honest about their mental health. But for Drew Barrymore, she found inspiration from a surprise source to do just that, and it led to her revealing that she's more than two years sober.

It all went down when she taped Friday's episode of her eponymous talk show with guest Machine Gun Kelly. An innocent segment with MGK showing off his new nail polish line took a real turn when he confessed to her that he's not feeling okay and he's reconsidering the idea of smiling his way through things.

MGK has long been a proponent of being candid, open and honest about mental health, and has opened up about his own struggles in this area. Here, his candor had an unexpected impact on Drew herself, who talked about her 2016 marital split from Will Kopelman and how that struggle impacted her.

"I went through a really painful divorce and I wasn't doing very well," Drew admitted in the interview. "I had these two kids I had to fight for and I needed help. So I started reaching out to different people and eventually I made some big sweeping changes in my life. I got on a whole new track. Not back on track, but a whole new one that I helped build."

"I just wanted to have a nuclear family so badly and when that dream did not come true ... I had to dig deep and continue to work on myself." Drew opened up to ET after the taping.

"Machine Gun Kelly inspired me to be vulnerable," she continued. "He asks himself if he needs to keep up the facade. I would love if social media wasn’t a display of fabulousness, but a place we could come together and share our journey."

Part of Drew's journey is a path to sobriety, which she hadn't intended to really talk about, but after her chat with MGK she changed her mind. She said she was reluctant to reveal her personal situation publicly because she "didn't want the pressure of the word sober or the judgment."

"I was looking at patterns and choices I was making, and I was stuck in something that wasn’t working. It took changing behaviors," she told the outlet. "I wanted to live my happiest, healthiest, most confident life. The longer I didn’t drink, the better I felt. I don’t think you have to go out on the rooftop and tell everyone. Do it yourself."

Drew first revealed her sobriety of two and a half years on Thursday's installment of "CBS This Morning." You can check out her discussion there below, and then tune in for her full interview with Machine Gun Kelly on Friday's installment of "The Drew Barrymore Show."