Lionel Richie has opened up about his daughter Nicole’s formerly crazy lifestyle, which saw her checking into rehab after her arrest for drug possession back in 2005.
Speaking on Piers Morgan's new series of Life Stories, Lionel said he needed to get her to “understand the severity of what was happening”.
“Nicole became a huge star herself in The Simple Life with Paris Hilton. She fell off the rails and she got into drugs and the wrong kind of friends and was arrested for possession of heroin and went into rehab,” began Piers.
“That’s a fairly cataclysmic thing for any father to have to watch his beautiful, young daughter go through.”
The 66-year-old musician willingly opened up about their experience, saying he there for his adopted daughter in every way he could be.
"I sound like my father now, but I went to her and I said, 'When I was growing up I lost three friends; they were the hippest friends I ever knew in life. One was the hippest guy at the clubs, he drank and he died in a car accident. The second friend died of drugs and the third one, suicide'.
"I said… ‘I don’t want you to be in that list of three’. Well, three months later her friend died of an overdose and I went back to her and very quietly, I was very shocked and I said, 'I am sorry to hear that. That’s one.'
"And sure enough, one year later the second one died and I said, 'That’s two' and I got a phone call and she said, 'Dad I need help, I don’t want to be the third one.' And I said, 'I am with you' and I cancelled the tour.
“I said 'Me and your mother,' who didn’t get along that well, 'Me and your mother are checking into rehab with you'.”
That was obviously a huge turning point for Nicole who has come incredibly far since then. Building up her own design business, she is also mum to Harlow (seven) and Sparrow (five) with husband Joel Madden.
Her father also recognises all she has achieved, saying: "There is not a day that I don’t send a text to her and I put down 'Proud of you'."
