Some stars in the Bravo universe have spoken candidly about their past drug use — on and off camera.
Vanderpump Rules alum Jax Taylor addressed his cocaine addiction for the first time in a tell-all interview released in March 2024. The reality star shared that he was newly sober, cutting out alcohol in an effort to keep his substance abuse struggles at bay.
“I have substance issues — primarily with cocaine. It’s hard to say out loud,” Taylor said on Bravo’s “Hot Mic” podcast. “I’ve been dealing with this on and off since I was 23 and now, I’m 45. There was times where I would stop doing it but then there were times where I’d go heavy on it.”
He added, “I don’t necessarily think I have an alcohol problem but the two go hand in hand. I can’t do cocaine without drinking. So, I just gave up both. I’m proud to say I’m 83 days sober right now, which is the longest I’ve ever gone in my life without either.”
This isn’t the first time the topic of cocaine has come up in the Vanderpump Rules universe. Taylor’s former costar James Kennedy — who has spoken publicly about his past alcohol struggles — denied doing cocaine in 2019.
‘Vanderpump Rules’ Cast’s Biggest Scandals and Controversies
At the time, a video went viral of someone who looked like Kennedy allegedly snorting the drug. “THIS IS NOT ME,” he commented on the post.
Keep scrolling to see other Bravolebrities who have publicly discussed past drug use:
Jax Taylor
“I just want to let people know this is a really, really tough disease and it’s a really tough sickness,” Taylor said in March 2025. “I’ve never said this in my life. So to come out and say that I have an addiction [and] that I have a sickness that I have to work on the rest of my life is a really big deal for me. Obviously, it’s a huge weight lifted off my shoulders.”
Carl Radke
The Summer House star has spoken at length about his past addiction struggles before getting sober in January 2021.
“I don’t think I realized I had a problem with drugs and alcohol until the early seasons of Summer House, just watching myself back,” he wrote in an April 2024 essay published on Today.com. Radke’s sobriety journey started months after his brother Curtis died from a heroin overdose in September 2020.
“My brother suffered from mental illness and addiction issues that crafted a huge rift in our family,” he wrote. “At the same time, I was also struggling privately. I went back to old Carl — drinking and using a lot of cocaine, which led to spiraling out of control. I continued down the spiral until I had what I would describe as my rock-bottom moment.”
Craig Conover
The Southern Charm star revealed in his 2022 memoir, Pillow Talk: What’s Wrong with My Sewing?, that he was “hooked” on Adderall during the early days of the Bravo show.
“In those early seasons, I often blamed my internal demons on the outside pressures I was facing,” Conover wrote. “The need to finish my work caused me to take Adderall. The anxiety of needing to ‘be on’ when I went out to the bars caused me to take more Adderall. And so on.”
After filming season 6 in 2018, he quit taking Adderall.
Austen Kroll
Kroll recalled “tripping” on Ambien while filming Winter House season 2, which aired in late 2022.
“I legitimately thought that I was taking a sleeping pill, but apparently if you fight off the sleep on Ambien, you like trip and wander around like ghosts and talk to people,” Kroll shared during an October 2022 interview with Page Six. “I was trying to be good! I was like, ‘Austen, go to bed and this Ambien will help you go to bed.’ And in fact, it did the opposite.”
Stassi Schroeder
During the Vanderpump Rules season 7 reunion in 2019, Schroeder shared that she had been mixing Adderall with alcohol.
“I’ve stopped taking it,” she said. Schroeder later spoke about quitting Xanax when she found out she was pregnant with her first child.
Golnesa ‘GG’ Gharachedaghi
The Shahs of Sunset star admitted to having a “massive drug past” during an appearance on E!’s Just the Sip in November 2018.
“I started when I was 11 years old,” she shared. “It was quite some time; it was almost 14 years I was using.”
Gharachedaghi went to rehab in 2005 and has stayed clean.
“I haven’t gone back to those hard drugs that I did do. I don’t want to scare anyone — I didn’t do heroin or crack. I was born and raised in L.A., babe,” she added. “You know, it’s cocaine and weed. That was the way it went.”
Kim Richards
The former Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star admitted to drug use during a 2015 interview on the Dr. Phil Show. The tumultuous interview showed Richards discussing her sobriety, and at one point she even walked off stage. Cameras then caught Richards having a discussion with son Chad about her drug use. (Richards is a mother to Chad, along with daughters Brooke and Kimberly.)
“You haven’t been sober,” Chad said. Richards responded, saying, “Yeah, but Chad. I’m not drinking every day.”
He continued: “I live with you. I’m not saying you’re drinking, but you’re taking pills. You do this every once in a while, you smoke pot.”
She admitted to doing it “every once in a while” and went to rehab that same year.
If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org.
