Joey Kovar Opens Up About Drug Addiction

Joey Kovar left The Real World: Hollywood house this week. It was the first time a cast member exited from the series for the sake of his personal well-being.

The decision came on the heels of a stint in rehab, followed by a return to a hard-partying home Kovar knew would be no good for him.

The reality TV star later opened up to Us Weekly about the realization that his addiction to drugs came from his childhood and his parents' problems.

"I remember being young and I always used to see my dad beat the crap out of my mom because he was a raging alcoholic, like the worst that you can be," Kovar said, adding that his parents both used cocaine and:

"Now that I've done coke, I know that that's what they were doing. Basically that's where [my addiction] stems from."

Joey Kovar had to get far away from the partying ways of The Real World.

The former Real World house mate said he had his first beer when he was 16, used hard alcohol at 18 and turned to steroids at 19 with the hopes of becoming a professional wrestler.

The steroid use lead to cocaine.

"You feel like a bus could hit you and you're not gonna die, so I was like 'you know what, 'I'll do [coke], I won't get hooked, I won't get addicted,'" Kovar said.

Matt Richenthal is the Editor in Chief of TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter and on Google+.