Josh Peck has opened up about battling addiction during his Drake & Josh years and his journey to sobriety. Peck is an American actor who began his career as a child star on Nickelodeon. He made several appearance on The Amanda Show before being cast in Drake & Josh alongside Drake Bell. Drake & Josh ran for 4 seasons and quickly became one of Nickelodeon’s most popular shows, propelling Peck into stardom.

After Drake & Josh, Peck went on to star in a number of projects, including Ice Age: The Meltdown, Red Dawn, and Grandfathered. Most recently, he starred in the Disney+ series Turner & Hooch and portrayed Scott Turner’s son, Scott Turner, Jr., who inherits an unruly dog following his father’s death. This year, Peck has starred in the How I Met Your Mother spin-off series, How I Met Your Father, and also joined season 2 of iCarly as Carly’s manager.

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In an interview with People, Peck opened up about battling addiction during his early Nickelodeon years. As a child, Peck’s first struggle was against a food addiction that led to him being nearly 300 pounds at age 15. While he soon began dieting and lost the extra weight, he turned from food to drugs and alcohol to numb his feelings. He utilized drugs and alcohol to help him cope with the insecurities he still bore from being bullied over his weight as a child. The drugs gave Peck a false sense of confidence that temporarily quieted his fears of not being enough. However, his addiction soon got to the point where it was causing him to behave erratically and threatening his acting career. After joining a treatment plan, he has now been sober since 2008. Check out his statement below:

I was always looking for something outside to fix my insides. But eventually I realized that whether my life was beyond my wildest dreams or a total mess, it didn’t change the temperature of what was going on in my mind. I knew that nothing in the outside world would make me feel whole. I spent most of my life dying to be typical but I grew up with a single mom, I was overweight and I was a musical theater kid who really had no social status. Comedy was my natural defense mechanism… It became clear that once I lost the weight that I was the same head in a new body. What is really clear is that I overdo things. And then I discovered drugs and alcohol. And that became my next chapter. I used food and drugs to numb my feelings. I had this illusion of becoming more confident and attractive when I was partaking. I was trying to quiet that voice that woke me up every morning and told me I wasn’t enough. By walking through discomfort and by doing my best to break down the false identity I had for myself, I was able to get to the place that I was always seeking. I’m just trying to do good work that makes people happy. It took me a really long time to love the 15-year-old version of me. But now I understand how strong he was. And I feel like everything in my life set me up to find this chapter of health, peace and contentment.

In order to conquer his addiction, Peck explained that he had to break down his false identity and find who he really was. Now, instead of worrying about being good enough, Peck prioritizes doing good work that will make other people happy. He has also found inspiration in his 15-year-old self and appreciates how strong he was before his addiction began. Today, Peck is sober and thriving in both his personal and professional life. In addition to his recent TV projects, Peck was also added to Christopher Nolan’s new film, Oppenheimer, alongside an A-list cast. He has been married to film editor Page O’Brien since 2017, and the two share a 3-year old son, Max.

Peck’s story about overcoming his addiction and finding peace within himself is inspiring to hear. He will be sharing his story further in his new memoir, Happy People Are Annoying, which is set to release on March 15. This is his first time sharing his story of addiction and offering hope for others facing similar battles. For Peck, he had to learn that no outside influences could heal him, and he needed to find peace with himself instead of looking for it in drugs and alcohol. His story touches on the reasons behind addiction and why it is so difficult for some to overcome. However, now that he has defeated it, the strides he has made show that recovery is possible. The former Drake & Josh star has overcome addiction to become quite an accomplished actor and is now sharing his story of hope with others.

Source: People

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Rachel Ulatowski
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Rachel Ulatowski is a Freelance Movie/TV News Writer for Screen Rant. She works to bring readers the latest news on the shows and movies that are important to them. Rachel especially enjoys writing about celebrity news and sharing the thoughts, struggles, and perspective of some of Hollywood’s biggest stars. In her free time she enjoys reading, writing, and watching anything Marvel, DC, Doctor Who, or Star Wars.

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