Michael Lohan: ‘I Can Feel What Lindsay Is Going Through’

Sadly, the Lohan family photo album boasts of not one, but two family member mug shots now – Lindsay and her father Michael, who has spent more time than he cares to admit in court, rehab and behind bars.

And now his daughter seems to be following in his footsteps, all too early.

But Michael is well aware and said last night he actually started to feel the trouble brewing, as he told Access Hollywood’s Billy Bush during an interview just hours after Lindsay’s arrest on Tuesday.

“Yesterday about 6PM, I just felt I needed to speak to Lindsay so I called her assistant Jenni Muro about four times up to about 12 o’clock at night and Jenni said Lindsay was in the middle of dance lesions for her next movie,” Michael told Billy. “Next thing I heard?”

“She was at a birthday bash,” Billy interjected.

“I didn’t know that,” Michael said. “The next thing I heard was the news this morning.”

“What are you feeling right now?” Billy asked.

“An onslaught of emotions, of course. I can feel what Lindsay is going through because I’ve been there myself,” Michael added.

Michael served almost two years in prison for Driving While Intoxicated and other charges. Now an ordained minister, he is desperate to save his daughter.

“Having been to jail yourself, do you think jail time could do her good?” Billy asked.

“I think the first 24 – 48 hours of any jail time is good enough to serve a person,” her father replied. “It’s a very, very trying process.”

Currently in the midst of a messy divorce and custody battle with Lindsay’s mom Dina, Michael wants his kids to have a mother and a father in their life again, giving them the stability they need.

“Look, let’s be serious. The writing is on the wall. When we were a family, did you see any of this going on? It wasn’t until we were torn apart, at the pinnacle of Lindsay’s career no less, when people came into the picture did everything fall apart,” Michael suggested.

Prior to his interview with Michael, Billy spoke to Dina about Lindsay’s latest trouble.

“I spoke to Dina this morning. When I called her, she was beside herself. Inconsolable is the word I would use,” Billy told Michael. “She was just beside herself in pain, as you are. The temptation is going to be to lash out at one another. Do you think you can put that aside for Lindsay’s sake?”

“That’s what I’ve been trying to do all along,” Michael maintained. “You haven’t heard me criticize Dina at all. Dina is accountable for herself and just like Lindsay, Dina needs to clean house. I don’t even want to go there. Dina knows what is going on. I know what is going on and it’s just got to stop. Enough is enough. I’ve had it. I really have. I feel the walls that have been put between us is what’s causing all of this to happen.”

But as Billy noted, the walls between Michael and his daughter are mostly his own doing.

“How much blame do you accept yourself for what she’s going through now?” Billy asked him.

“I’m accountable for what I’ve done. I put myself in the position of acting out in the wrong way. I wound up in jail. I was arrested. It’s unfortunate Lindsay is experiencing what I did,” Michael said.

“Father to daughter, if you could say something to her right now, what would that be?” Billy finally asked Michael.

“That I love her. I’ve always loved her. I don’t want anything from her but to be her father, she knows that. The only thing I’ve ever wanted from her was her love and forgiveness like I’ve given her mine,” Michael said, before one final emotional plea.

“I just want her to get it. Just get it, honey. Please, I can’t take this anymore and neither can anyone else. I’m tired of all this. You need your parents and that’s all that’s important. Just let me reach out to you and be there for you,” he concluded.

For more from Billy’s emotional interview with Michael Lohan, tune in to Tuesday and Wednesday’s Access Hollywood!