Big Brother: Jackson Was Addicted To Xanax & Cocaine Amid BB21 Casting

Jackson Michie revealed that he was addicted to Xanax, Adderall, and cocaine during his Big Brother 21 casting process. It was clear to anyone watching BB21 that Jackson was a very intense person and houseguest. He got criticized time and time again by the fans for crossing the lines when it came to lying and manipulating people on Big Brother. And as a consequence, his season became tainted with a special kind of toxicity and problematic behaviors. Still, after a few years of fans claiming that the rightful winner had been “robbed” on the show, Jackson still went on to win the $500,000 grand prize.

In hindsight, new fans might have a hard time understanding how such a controversial figure like Jackson Michie went on to gather enough jury votes to win Big Brother 21. At the time, however, it felt like “the right thing” for jury members to crown the player that had dominated the entire game, no matter what he had said or done to get there. So when Jackson arrived at the finale with Holly Allen, even some of his fiercest opponents had a hard time making a case as to why he should lose to his showmance partner. Alas, he is certainly one of the series’ most controversial winners.

Since 2020, Jackson Michie has been on a journey of self-discovery where he is trying to move past his Big Brother 21 infamy. Now, Jackson shared a shocking TikTok video where he opened up about his life during the BB21 casting process. The clip starts with Jackson showing a picture of himself with a “stress-induced blood clot” right next to his heart in May 2019, adding that he moved into the Big Brother house just a month later in June 2019. Then, Jackson revealed that right before BB21 he was “addicted to Xanax and struggled with Adderall and cocaine.” He also said that he took one last Xanax just two days prior to moving into the BB house. The intent behind this video was to present some new context regarding his behavior on the show.

Later in the video, Jackson confessed: “At the age of 23 I literally went through Xanax rehab and post-surgery recovery on national television for 100 days and beat 15 people to be the winner of Big Brother 21.” Jackson’s addiction struggles are heartbreaking, and his courage to talk about them is commendable. On the other hand, the decision that went into casting Jackson on that season despite the well-documented state of his mental and physical health is a disappointing revelation for a lot of fans to digest.

There is hope that Big Brother 23 and the series’ subsequent seasons will avoid situations like this one. Nonetheless, it’s great to see Jackson Michie doing better than he was doing in 2019.

Sources: Jackson Michie’s TikTok

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Bernardo Sim
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Bernardo Sim writes about TV shows, queer culture, & Brazilian media. Born and raised in the Amazon, he now lives in South Florida. he/him

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