Todd Bridges endured years of personal hardships involving drugs, abuse and family issues, but has come out on the other side with nearly 21 years of sobriety. Now, the former “Diff’rent Strokes” star is offering Lindsay Lohan advice that he says could save her life.
The 48-year-old actor stopped by Access Hollywood Live on Wednesday, where he told Kit Hoover and guest co-host Alfonso Ribeiro that Lindsay’s road ahead could mean the difference between life or death.
“The bottom line for Lindsay right now is she has to decide what she wants to do. Either she wants to stop or she wants to continue. If she wants to continue, she’s going to end up dead,” he said of the actress, who recently completed a three-month stint in rehab.
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Todd feels that reckless behavior by some stars is celebrated.
“Here’s the problem, we glorify people like Charlie Sheen. I’m not being mean, but we glorify it,” the “Killing Willis: From Diff’rent Strokes to the Mean Streets to the Life I Always Wanted” author continued.
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So how does Todd, who dealt with so many demons in the past, now approach working in the Hollywood spotlight.
“You do your job and you go home and you don’t get involved in anything on the set… all you care about is yourself,” he explained.
The actor doesn’t blame his early success on the small screen for his past mistakes.
“The problems that I went through had nothing to do with being a child star, it had everything to with what I saw going on at home and what was going on in my household,” he told Kit and Alfonso.
Adding, “Once you realize the problem isn’t drugs and alcohol, but is you, you can get your life together.”
See Todd on “Oprah: Where Are They Now?” this Sunday at 8 PM on OWN.
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