Chet Hanks Gives Sober Advice and Discusses ‘The Surreal Life’

Chet Hanks has shared his experience on the reality show The Surreal Life: Villa of Secrets, talking about his time on the show while being almost 10 years sober.

As the eldest son of Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson, Chet got sober back in April 2016 before becoming a father to his daughter, Michaiah, whom he shares with his ex, Tiffany Miles. He told Page Six that despite being surrounded by alcohol while filming The Surreal Life, he didn’t feel tempted to drink.

“Yeah, I don’t even think about that,” he shared. “It’s like, not even on my radar — like, the thought of taking a drink or whatnot. So it’s not even a blip on the radar.”

However, the 33-year-old confessed in a previous episode of Bradley Martyn’s Raw Talk podcast that it wasn’t alcohol that gave him the most trouble, but rather cocaine. “The drug I had the most problem with was just f–king coke, dude,” he admitted.

“I would go do coke with the cokeheads,” he continued, “and they would be telling me, ‘Yo, chill, bro. Wait a second. Give it like 15 minutes.'”

“I couldn’t get enough of that,” he added.

At 17, his parents noticed a concerning abrupt change in his behavior and staged an intervention.

“I wake up in the morning,” he explained, “it’s 4 o’clock in the morning and there are two huge f**king dudes standing at the foot of my bed, looking at me. And they go, ‘You’re coming with us.'”

Chet emphasized, “It’s nothing against them, man.” He also noted that his parents “were supportive” of his decision to join the cast of the reality series, as he told Us Weekly.

“They definitely have said [no reality TV] in regard to the typical reality shows. When this came up, we discussed it and everybody agreed. We all agreed that this could be a really great opportunity for me, and it was perfect,” he said.

“They were really supportive. I was excited and everybody was,” remarked the rapper.

As an actor, rapper, and YouTuber, Chet has appeared in recurring roles on TV series such as Empire, Shameless, and Your Honor, along with guest roles on Curb Your Enthusiasm and Atlanta. The Surreal Life was Chet’s first foray into an unscripted reality series. Despite nearly a decade of sobriety, Chet suggested that newly sober individuals should be mindful of their environment.

“For somebody who might be earlier in their sobriety, where it still is a temptation, my advice would just be, like, remove yourself from that environment,” he suggested.

Hanks also appreciated having Tyler Posey, a fellow sober individual, in his corner on the show. The Teen Wolf actor, 32, has maintained his sobriety over the years.

“It was cool just having another sober person in the house, which I definitely was not expecting,” Chet told the outlet. “That was a huge surprise because, obviously, you know, most places I go, I’m the only sober person. So that right off the bat was cool and something that we connected on.”

Source: Page Six, Us Weekly