Jeremy Miller is a former child star that most audience members will know best thanks to his time on the series Growing Pains. For most of his life, Jeremy has been plagued with alcoholism. While most would expect this alcoholism came after the former child performer’s fame, it actually started much earlier! Jeremy has just recently given up alcohol for good, and he’s ready to talk about how his battle with the demon began. Join Facts Verse as Jeremy Miller says his addiction started at the age of four.
Jeremy Miller Was a Four-Year-Old Alcoholic
From 1985 to 1992, Jeremy Miller was known to the world as the child performer who portrayed Ben Seaver on the hit show Growing Pains. The show saw Jeremy gracing the small screen alongside such other notables as Alan Thicke, Kirk Cameron, and Leonardo DiCaprio, with the latter figure having gone on to become one of the biggest movie stars in the world! Few people who watched the hit series back in the day likely realized that the actor portraying Ben Seaver had some extreme personal problems that were becoming worse behind the scenes. Jeremy used the success that he garnered from his time on Growing Pains to enter into a world of debauchery that no child should ever get the opportunity to experience. Though the money and fame that Jeremy received from his time on Growing Pains certainly opened up the doors for the young performer to experiment with alcohol in a way that he shouldn’t have, his battle with the demon of alcohol actually started long before.
According to Jeremy Miller, the first time that he ever drank alcohol was when he was four years old. Jeremy claims that his grandparents would hold extravagant parties while he was growing up, and that he would still be awake by the time that these parties came to an end. Tasked by his grandparents with helping clean up after the numerous guests, Jeremy took the opportunity to empty all the scattered cups of alcohol into his mouth. Jeremy says that this was his first experience with alcohol, though he would go on to have many more after being cast in Growing Pains. By the time the series was over, Jeremy was a full-blown alcoholic. It would be many years before he finally got help.
If the first time that Jeremy Miller ever drank alcohol was at the age of four, the actor claims that the first time he became exceptionally inebriated was at the age of 12. By this point, Jeremy was already a few years into his tenure on Growing Pains, which he started performing in around the age of 9. As soon as copious amounts of alcohol started becoming available to the child performer, he couldn’t find it in himself to exercise control. According to Jeremy himself, he had no set limits that would keep him from drinking more than he could handle. This continued to be an issue for Jeremy until he finally gave up alcohol for good in the past decade.
Alcoholism Caused Jeremy to Have Serious Growing Pains
By the time that Growing Pains had come to an end, Jeremy Miller had found himself a much different person than when the program started. For one thing, the young actor had essentially come of age over the course of his seven years on the program. However, much of his transition into adulthood had been inhibited by his alcoholism, which had only continued to get worse. By the time that Jeremy had come of age, he couldn’t wake up without needing a drink. As his alcoholism got worse, he began to sink into depression. According to Jeremy, there were times when he considered committing suicide. Thankfully, he didn’t have a gun. When Jeremy finally decided to seek out professional help in the 2010s, it wasn’t an overnight success story.
Jeremy Miller let his alcoholism remain out of control for two decades before finally deciding to do something about it in the 2010s. It was in 2011 that the former child star officially entered into recovery, and it seems that he’s doing relatively well for himself today. However, there were some major hurdles that the former star had to overcome after making the decision that he wanted to give up alcohol for good. According to the man himself, some of his most embarrassing moments came after deciding to quit drinking in 2011. The most embarrassing of these moments was a DUI arrest that occurred one night after the actor momentarily relapsed. If you’re enjoying this video so far, be sure to hit the like button to show your support! Also, subscribe to the channel if you’d like to be among the first to know when more Facts Verse videos are on their way!
Jeremy Had a Long, Hard Road Towards Recovery
Former Growing Pains star Jeremy Miller is now 45 years old and seems to live happily with his wife, Connie. Now that Jeremy has successful recovered from decades of alcoholism, he isn’t afraid to talk about the points in his life where he felt that he was at rock bottom. Though Jeremy is doing well for himself today, there were times where the former child star could barely see through all the darkness surrounding him. The star has vague memories of drinking binges during which he punched holes in the walls of his and his wife’s home and broke household objects. Jeremy claims that there were points during his worst years where he was blacked out every day and every night. During these times, Jeremy was in constant fear of learning from his wife that he had crossed the line during one of his drunken rampages.
When Jeremy Miller finally decided that he wanted to get help in 2011, medical technology had increased to the point where there was now an implant that the actor could receive to help quell his cravings for alcohol. Since nothing that Jeremy had tried before had even managed to leave a dent in his insatiable alcohol cravings, he decided that this implant was something worth trying. Jeremy claims that receiving the implant helped him deal with his alcohol cravings more than anything that he had tried before, and this was the thing that finally but the former child star on the road to recovery. However, despite the fact that the implant eventually helped Jeremy kick his alcoholism once and for all, his absolute darkest moment was still yet to come.
A few of the many things that Jeremy Miller used to try and combat his alcohol cravings before resorting to the previously mentioned implant include both inpatient and outpatient rehab, as well as hypnotherapy. The former child star even turned to herbal tinctures to help make his alcohol cravings go away, but the implant was the first things that had even a modicum of success
Jeremy Realized He Needed Help After Hurting His Wife
Jeremy Miller says that the incident that finally made the actor realize that he might be in need of some professional help came when he and his wife attended a wedding. According to Jeremy, he got incredibly drunk while attending the wedding of a mutual friend and then attempted to leave the wedding at an inappropriate time. Jeremy’s wife then tried to stop him, and ended up climbing up onto his back in an attempt to do so. The drunken Jeremy then flung his wife off of his back, at which point she became injured. When Jeremy learned later that he had injured his wife in a drunken rage, he was emotionally devastated. However, the drunken moment that Jeremy regrets most came later.
While the implant that Jeremy Miller was given helped with his cravings, it didn’t make the issue of his alcoholism go away immediately. According to the actor himself, he relapsed twice after receiving the implant, and the first of these relapses led to a drunken moment that Jeremy regrets more than any other. Jeremy claims that he and his wife had gotten into an argument about their finances, which prompted the actor to get in his car and drive to the liquor store. There, he slammed half a pint of vodka before going on a joyride. During this joyride, the actor was pulled over.
Jeremy Claims a DUI Arrest Was His Rock Bottom
According to Jeremy Miller, his DUI arrest remains the most embarrassing thing that has ever happened to him. Given that the actor has gotten into drunken brawls with his wife in public, this is truly saying something! Jeremy says that the reason he regrets his DUI arrest so much is because he was putting so many random peoples’ lives at risk. It seems that Jeremy really isn’t a monster after all, and that’s why he decided after the DUI arrest to dedicate himself to his recovery more devoutly than ever before. Though the actor had another small relapse afterwards, he has essentially become a changed man since his DUI arrest.
Today, Jeremy Miller is doing much better for himself than he arguably ever has in his life. This comes in spite of the fact that the former child star is no longer a big success in the acting world. There has been some talk about rebooting Growing Pains in recent years, and it seems that Jeremy Miller is perfectly willing to reprise the role of Ben Seaver should he be asked to.
There have been many child stars over the course of Hollywood history that have gotten into illicit substances at ridiculously young ages, but Jeremy Miller’s story of first imbibing alcohol at the age of only four is one for the books! Now it’s time to hear from you: did you know that former Growing Pains star Jeremy Miller is nearly a decade sober, and that his addiction to alcohol started when he was only four years old? As always, like this video to show your support, and subscribe and hit the notification bell if you’d like to be among he first to know when more Facts Verse videos are on their way!
