Queer Eye host Karamo Brown has opened up on his cocaine addiction and said he has learned to “forgive” himself.
Brown, the culture expert on Netflix’s makeover show, told People magazine at his lowest point he was handing over his bank card to a drug dealer and once snorted cocaine while in a car with his mother.
He said: “Cocaine became my escape. I went to a place where I was using this drug and using it early in the morning and in the evening.”
Brown, who is engaged to director Ian Jordan, said the incident with his mother was a low point, adding: “The look on her face, of hurt, of pain, I was like eurgh. I put my family through that.”
The TV host is one of the Fab Five from Queer Eye, alongside Bobby Berk, Jonathan Van Ness, Tan France and Antoni Porowski.
On Queer Eye, which returns for a third season next month, the Fab Five help guests turnaround their lives, with advice on fashion, food and their overall outlook on life.
Brown, 38, said he has learn to forgive himself and that his experience with addiction allows him to help others suffering similarly.
He said: “But I had to forgive myself because going through that allows me to talk to people who have addictions and say, ‘I know what you’re going through’.
“It allows me to talk to family members who are dealing with someone who has an addiction.
“I can speak to that and say ‘you can grow through this and heal from it’.”