Dr. Drew Brings Rehab And Sober House To The View

Jennifer’s Side Of Sober House – Season 2, Episode 3

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As she did last season, house manager Jennifer Gimenez is set to give us her weekly take on each episode of Sober House with Dr. Drew. Below, Jenn talks about the third episode of the show: Mike’s departure (and return), Kari Ann’s intercepted attempt at a return and the curfew violation by a few that resulted in consequences for all.

Toward the beginning of the episode, Mike was kicked out for hitting a camera man. I thought it was strange that he was let back in, given the no-tolerance policy for violence.

The difference between Mike and Kari Ann is that Mike didn’t come into the house loaded and he wasn’t starting havoc. During the group meetings that they had with Drew, he wasn’t interrupting and getting on the phone because he wanted more attention. He was participating. When Mike hit the camera, he felt provoked. Kari Ann had punched the cameraman in the neck; Mike shoved him. It’s still physical violence, it’s still not OK and there are consequences due to that. Keep in mind that Kari Ann didn’t want to be there. She never apologized. Mike did.

But that  all said, there really isn’t a no-tolerance policy regarding violence, then.

Dr. Drew evaluated Mike between him leaving and coming back. I know I said there’s absolutely no violence, but we were worried that Mike would die if he was out. And the thing is that I really did care about Mike. We were a couple days into filming and I started to care about all of them at that point.

Speaking of coming back, Kari Ann attempted to this episode. Was this as big of a surprise as the show made it out to be?

There were finally a couple hours where things were going OK at the house. We are all getting along. Seth and I were bowling, Heidi and Tom were throwing a football. And all of a sudden Bob comes up the hill with Kari Ann. It was like a bomb on our happiness. I was like, “Are you kidding me?” You could see by everyone’s reactions how shocked we were.

From what we saw, you stayed pretty quiet.

I think everybody was freaking out. What you see is the one who freaks out the most, and that’s Heidi. I was more in disbelief and trying to keep calm because I knew if I overreacted the whole house would react. I need to lead by example. Heidi started going off about how Kari Ann was loaded. Kari Ann was being really confrontational and going off on everyone. If you really want to come back into the house, why are you going off on everybody? Kari Ann started getting anyone that she could get on her side, and that person ended up being Tom, which was so weird and gross. It was disgusting.

So you think, as Heidi implied, that he was sexually motivated to take Kari Ann’s side?

Yeah. I think that Tom is very distorted in some areas. I think they are all sick. They are sick trying to get better, but Tom sees this girl, and…I don’t know. I don’t think he was trying to be the hero here. That was the first time I saw the interaction between Tom and Heidi turn — they were getting along and then he did something to piss her off. It wasn’t because he was purposely trying to piss her off. Tom’s not all there, I think you see. Tom has a violent streak, an angry streak.

At this point, it was unfathomable as a viewer that Kari Ann’s return to the house should even be considered.

I agree with you. It wasn’t like Kari Ann was trying to change and get better. It was like Kari Ann was just coming back to play the part. She obviously didn’t want it from the moment she walked in there. So I was really shocked, I was angry, I was appalled. I said that I needed to test her. It was at that moment she decided to leave, and not just because of me but because she realized she wasn’t welcomed there. Heidi did have a great point, why come back to a place where you’re not wanted? At that point we saw her intentions — you can’t bulls*** a bulls****ter. We could see right through that. That’s really a key thing: you know that this girl doesn’t want it so why try and help her? I don’t wish ill will, but if you don’t want it, there are so many other people out there that do.

In happier news, Seth made a decision this episode to stay home and play board games instead of going out on their first free night.

I was blown away, especially after all the stuff that was happening. I was like, “Oh no. This going to end in another webcam apology for Seth. This is going to be terrible.” But all week he had been saying, “I really want this, I really want this.” When he told me he wanted to stay home, I got teary eyed because I saw the desire in him. That’s the difference between Kari Ann and Seth – you can see a desire in a person’s eyes.

On the flip side, Jennie, Mike and Dennis Rodman stayed out, violating curfew.

By the way, Heidi stayed home too — she went to bed early. I suffer from migraines and I caught a full-blown one that night. I was vomiting, I couldn’t see and I had to take my migraine medication. When they came home, I was little out of it. It was like, “Are you kidding me? I have to stay up and wait for these people?”

It did seem unfair that Seth and Kendra were punished for what other people did.

This is a group — they rally together. I figured that if everyone didn’t pay the consequences, the people who did stay would think they could get away with something next week because they were good this week. I wanted the people who did the right thing to be angry at those who messed up, not me. In this setting, if one person fails, they all do, because of the group dynamic. It doesn’t have to do with sobriety, it has to do with accountability to each other. Kendra and Seth didn’t have to write the 150 words, but they did lose their phones. When I was living in a recovery home, I got my phone all the time. I don’t think I had it half the time. It happens.

How long do you take the phones away for?

Twelve hours. They were probably going to sleep eight of those hours.

Dennis gave you the biggest problems about this. Among the things he said to you were that you don’t know what you’re doing, and most people in the house don’t respect you.

Meanwhile, I ended up getting his phone, and he ended up writing. If he didn’t respect me, he wouldn’t have done that. He was just trying to push my buttons and I gave him no reaction.

Keep up with Jenn on Facebook and follow her on Twitter.

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Jennifer’s Side Of Sober House – Season 2, Episode 2

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As she did last season, house manager Jennifer Gimenez is set to give us her weekly take on each episode of Sober House with Dr. Drew. Below, Jenn talks about the second episode of the show: Kari Ann’s departure, Seth’s return and Mike’s opiate withdrawal.

The first major event of this episode involves Kari Ann hitting a camera man on the way to the Sober House. They notified you of this while she was in transit, right?

Yeah. The thing is with this, the crew members do not talk to anyone in the cast. This guy did not deserve to be hit, not that anyone ever does, but Kari Ann hit one of the nicest people I’ve ever met in my life. It was just completely unfair. At that point, it wasn’t that I wanted to kick her out because I just didn’t like her, but she had gone out of her way to make this such an impossible situation and experience for everyone. I said in Episode 1 that I didn’t think that she was fit to be at the Sober House. I really think that she wasn’t well psychologically. I’m not a doctor but obviously she wasn’t well, and that hitting just proved it. This wasn’t about recovery for her, and it wasn’t about wanting to get better. It was just about causing drama. And I know that there’s always somebody that wants to make great TV and be that person, but this isn’t about that. This is about life and death. This is about people wanting to learn to live, and she wasn’t helping.

The physical altercation, though, was the concrete transgression you needed to kick her out, right?

Well, it was more like, at that moment I went, “I was right.” What if she were to hurt herself or another cast member? She was just so uncooperative with any situation, of anything, period. She wasn’t wanting to participate in any of the things that we were asking her to do, and it’s like you know what? We don’t have time for that.

Given all of the horrible things that she said to you last episode and this episode, was it satisfying to throw her out?

No, it wasn’t satisfying…What can I say? I just felt like this level of care wasn’t for her, so it was like…I don’t know.

Was it like a relief?

You know, there was a bit of a relief in the sense that I knew that if Kari Ann continued and stayed in that house, it was just going to cause more chaos, and we were only on Day 2. If we started off that way, it wasn’t going to ever stop. This is not a show about Kari Ann. This is a show about showing people how they recover and early sobriety and the vulnerability and the lessons of that situation. And I go back to that life-and-death thing, because this is not a joke. If the disease is alive in the house, everyone is going down. If I allow pardon that behavior, what’s next? She pushed the envelope way too far.

This episode weirdly associates Mindy McCready with Kari Ann’s so-called “sex-tape scandal.” What was your take on that?

Well, I don’t know. I feel that it was very unfair to have that being talked about when Mindy wasn’t there to defend her side. I don’t know what happens behind closed doors, and no one else does. No matter what, this drama wasn’t about a solution — Kari Ann just lived in the problem. And even Dr. Drew was trying to tell her in his one-on-one with her to focus on herself, and she didn’t want to take any part of it. She wanted to just play the blame game. I just didn’t feel it was fair on Mindy’s side, and look, Kari Ann says a lot of things.

Also in this episode, you introduced the idea that everybody’s going to have to get a job, and Dennis and Tom were the most resistant.

Dennis is resistant at all time. I really think it’s just him trying to push the envelope. He’s a game player.  Dennis wants to see how far he can go to see how far he can get away with things. Dennis ended up having the most touching work experience out of everyone, and he didn’t want to do it initially. Tom was down, too. He was in it. He was folding laundry, cleaning up dirty stuff, he was doing the deal. We have 7 Deadly Sins in our 12-step community, and one of them is sloth, and when push comes to shove, those guys were down. They were there. They did what they were supposed to do. Yes, they’re resistant, but that’s alcoholic and addict behavior. I don’t want to get on the treadmill, I don’t want to do certain things, but I’ve got to do it. A lot of alcoholic and addict behavior is, “I want it here and I want it now and I want it my way,” instead of doing it the right way and having to work for it.

What was going through your mind when it was proposed that Seth enter the Sober House?

It was really hard for me because Seth had been with me on Sober House last season, and we have history that goes back 10 years. Every time Seth relapses, it really breaks me. There’s a little piece of my heart that breaks, because I love him so much and he’s such a great guy. But at this point, it’s like, is it really going to work this time? And I believe in miracles. I was hopeless, and now I’m not. I have hope today. And maybe the light will come into his eyes, I don’t know. I was resistant to him returning because I know it hadn’t worked before, and I took a lot of personal interest because I love him so much. It’s like, how much more can I give him? I have to set my boundaries and I have to let go. We have to let go, and we can detach with love and tolerance. I can detach and love him from afar until he was ready to get better.

Drew said that he worried that by letting Seth come back so much, he’d gotten to the point where he was enabling him. Were you concerned about that as well?

Absolutely. Seth knows how to get to me because we have history, and he knows how to be the sweet guy by just blinking his eyes. But I have to be strong with him. I have to forget that in a weird way, he’s kind of like family. I have to forget that we have so much history, and I have to put that aside. I have to be the person that’s enforcing the rules. I realized that if Seth was going to come back this time, I was going to have to be very hard on him. I didn’t have to laugh at everything, and I didn’t have to go chase him if he wanted to relapse.

Where do you draw the line then between helping and enabling?

It’s a very slippery slope. I’m learning to draw the lines. I’m learning through my experiences on a daily basis. Seth and I, we get into it. He tells me to stop being so hard on him. I was told by Dr. Drew that I was not allowed to have Shifty in the house, I was allowed to have Seth. That allowed me to have a line and a boundary with him. I wanted no part of Shifty Shellshock, because that guy killed my friend Seth. I didn’t want the persona, I wanted the human being Seth.

The final major part of the episode is Mike’s Suboxone request. He was getting hit hard by his withdrawal at that point. Were you worried at all by his behavior?

I was worried, yeah. Day 2 was when Mike started with the, “F*** you, f*** you, f*** you, f*** you, I’m in pain.” I get the pain for a couple of days, but so does everyone else, and they’re not asking for drugs. I understood from Dr. Drew that Mike was going to have a hard kick, but he knew going into the house, too. He had already been asking me all day long about the meds, and I was like, “Oh, no.” I was told that he was a little rough and I started seeing that. More will be revealed as the show goes on…

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SOBERHOUSE2 ON VH1 THURSDAYS AT 10P.M

TWITTER @JenniferGimenez

FACEBOOK  Jennifer Gimenez

oh my i have to say it has been an overwhelming,yet amazing week… so much is going on … ive been doing alot of publicity for SOBERHOUSE 2 and im so grateful for the unbelievable response ive been recieving… u guys are incredible… the experience was one of the most insane yet life changing one i have had… im still sober and at the end of the day thats what matters… i do believe it will help someone besides me out there…the crew and God saved me…

i trained this week 3 days w DARLENE and i did 4 days of cardio …

this Thursday LIFE AND STYLE MAGAZINE did a 4pages story on me and how i lost 100lbs… please pick one up … MARCH 18th out on stands….

http://blog.vh1.com/2010-03-11/jennifers-side-of-sober-house-season-2-episode-1/

CHECK MY  REVIEW OF SOBERHOUSE 2 on VH1

OMG my days are going by so quickly…with SOBERHOUSE 2 coming out i am on super overload …doing alot of stuff for it..yes i am still training with the boss ,DARLENE… i just shot for LIFE & STYLE MAGAZINE last week and the story is coming out either this week or next… ill keep u posted…today DARLENE kicked my arms into a whole nother gear… they are super sore .i am very tired today…but i did work out w her for an hr and then did a total 55 minutes on treadmill…i dont know where i got that energy to do that much today… i ended up at the gym for way too long i kept answering work phone calls and found myself  talking with people at the gym which totally threw me off… i dont mean to sound like an ass but i dont have the time to socialize there…im on a timed schedule.. i drank my yogurt,blueberry,banana,whey shake…lunch 2oz of turkey meatloaf..an orange and an apple for dinner 4chicken soft tacos w corn tortillas…very small ones … im still hungry….

im really gonna need u guys ,ur support during this experience of soberhouse…

im really tired and still have work to do…long work day tomorrow…

allie thanks for sharing that POST OFFICE story and keep on w the kick boxing….carly ur right in my eyes i do need salt ,hells lots of it… no not this week i just a got a 4 page story in a magazine, i will be able to talk about i after i shoot it next week… its about how ive lost my100 lbs…and of course SOBERHOUSE2…so when people see these things theyll be able to see how ive done it and my struggles and ups and downs of this journey…thats why i blog about my journey…plus im glad i can share it with you.

ive been trainig so hard with DARLENE and as of today im not eating carbs at nite for the next week…i also am doing cardio at nite as well as when i train with Miss.Thang…im trying to push through…im not struggling to be what people want me to be im being the best i can be for the place im at right now… to be at my best it will take a few more months, right boss? i had a shake w protien powder ,banana ,yogurt,blueberries for breaky, for lunch steamed  cod w lemon ,spinach salad and brown rice(my mama is staying w me so its so much easier right now ,she is cooking for me) and for dinner i had chicken w vegtables(fajita style)…

last nite i went to a Haiti benefit that “REALITY CARES” did ,IN TOUCH weekly sponsored it …it was a great event…

i have an audition tomorrow so im have to go study

apparently SOBER HOUSE 2was mentioned on CELEB REHAB last nite and PEREZ HILTON posted it on his site…

my name is jennifer and im a SALTAHOLIC… i was doing good on my salt intake and boom out of no where i had the urge and its just progressively gotten worse… until today…i have had a bit of a salt attack for the last 2 wks … i just craved it so badly it was making my mouth water… i told on myself and now i had to quit cold turkey …”NO SALT” DARLENE “the boss” commanded… and u know what ,i dont want to be swollen or live dependent on danm SALT… i asked what i could substitute  salt for and she said MRS.DASH so there i went to the store to buy it … when i made my spinach salad with chicken i put MRS.DASH on , ummmm MRS.DASH should be called MRS.YAWN… so i started eating it and nothing…ugh… i got so mad cause all i wanted was salt with lemon on it… so instead it was mrs.dash and lemon w a teaspoon of olive it went….on that note today i started w a yogurt,protien powder, blueberries,banana shake.sugar free rock star, 2 pieces of chicken and brown rice w a bit a parmesan cheese, then for dinner spinach salad w 4oz of chicken and the dash thing….i did alot of cardio 1st 45 minutes at the gym then trained w MISS.DARLENE  during the day but tonight i needed to reach over 3000 calories so i got on the treadmill for 30 minutes…im at 17000 steps so far and its 11pm and i hit over 3400 calories… yesterday i hit 2964 i was on under by 36 and im on this kick for a certain reason ,so miss.thang said that  for what im trying to achieve its not acceptable for me to do that …IM AN ATHLETE damn it…. i watch the OLYMPIANS do their thing and that determination i see in there eyes ,its in their pores ,in the every breath , so its in mine, to achieve my goals…they inspire me as i watch them live their dreams…. such an inspiration.

im so blessed to have a great group of people who really love me and want the best for me…i need them and u…SOBERHOUSE is coming out 2wks from tomorrow and im a bit nervous… i just hope it reaches someone out there watching…

my mama is over for the next few days so itll be nice to have her around… we spend alot of time together regardless… but when life gets super busy its nice to have a loving face around…Toms and Mickeys helps so much too…but having my mama ,theres nothing that compares… shes my mama!!!!!! carrying little mickers warm poop in a bag while walking him keeps me laughing ,reminding me how humble and how my life is soooo filled with humility … and its on a daily basis…he loves to lay on my shoulder when we sleep and the best part is ,he farts on my shoulder and as im sound asleep my face is right in his ass…. oh the lovely moments….sometimes its the small things….

im pms’d to top it off and as a dear old friend of mine C.D use to say “i get the opzies” right before my period so im dropping everything and just stumbling a bit ,NOT FALLING… did enough of that recently still have slight bruises from that POST OFFICE fall…damn it that was terrible but effing HYSTERICAL… again being humbled….

last nite i was reunited with DR.DREW,MIKE STARR, STEVEN ADLER, JENNIE KETCHAM and WILL  alongside with some  thier friends and family…we got to spend some time  together…TOM was there as well…it was actually a nice few hours spent…in 23 days  SOBERHOUSE 2  is coming out so its about to get even busier for me than i already am…

i have an early audition so im going to make this a quickie tonight…why does being a woman entail so much maintance… i had to color my hair, again… ive gone a lot lighter than last year so its just alot  more work with all the colors in it…between that , the nails, toes, workouts,blah blah its just alot of work…

today i did  ONLY cardio…ive been on the treadmill the last 5/6 days for cardio after my training with Darlene,but today i ran straight with out not even a minute break…i did 1hr 25 minutes … i ended up running close to 7 miles…man i was a red as a tomatoe…i had a whey protien,banana,blueberry shake this a.m then cabbage salad and a handful of walnuts for lunch, for dinner i had tuna sandwhich with cut up olives and pepperchinis w mustard and 2 tablespoons a mayo….i made 2 cans of tuna but have alot left over for tomorrow and/or the next day  or both…i also had 2 oz of chicken i think the running and hard training i also did yesterday is making me need more fuel…and  a vitamin water w/lots of water today…so far today alone ive burned over 3000 calories and  over 15ooo steps…yesterday BOSS kicked my ass w sqats of all sorts my feet holding  medicne ball  side to side sit ups then these 1/2 windmills with my legs side to side and then laying on the medicine ball on my back w/weights in my hands crunching then standing ,curling the weights then falling back on the ball…ya all in one time… we did other things too but man i am super sore today…

there is so much more that goes on in one day but im just to tired to go on…

today was my little brothers bday… tomorrow is my dads anniversary of his death… i miss him so much… i will go see him tomorrow… oh if  GOD can just open heaven up for him to be able to see my brother and i for just 30 seconds…he would be so proud of  DWIGHT…he has turned out to be an incredible man…

i am so happy to hear from u !!! that u are reading my blogs ! really its just my journalling… regardless u are taking the time out of ur busy life to follow me and THANK YOU  from the bottom of my heart…i was asked to twitter and so i started that too so please follow me … http://twitter.com/JenniferGimenez 

last week i had alot of nite life going on… my girl MANDY SHERMAN had a birthday party at the”SAINT” on Wednesday nite , Thrusday i had an event for my friend ALLIASON MELNICK at “PLAYHOUSE” and Friday nite my friend RYAN OCONNOR had a play “RYAN O CONNOR EATS HIS FEELINGS” so it was soical nite life at its finest… during the day i was super busy with life…running around phone calls and yes the fun filled gym! TOM and I were so beat by Saturday with just one more party to attend Sunday THE SUPERBOWL! ahhh my “COLTS” lost and lost bad…i was at Toms friends house with 100 people and 90 of them were cheering for the “SAINTS” including TOM … ya and there i was all in “COLTS” gear talking all the SHIT one could until the 4th quarter… oh my ass and ego hurt !!!oh well , theres always next year… now im on to the “LAKERS”…

on Thrus i got the call… and yes my car was  finally ready after 33 days of all the crap and serious work on my car and my baby is back in my belonging… TOYOTA OF GLENDORA  was outstanding in there service of my vehicle… i would like to personally “THANK THE SERVICE DEPARTMENT DAVE, DANNY AND THE ACTUAL SERVICE TECH WHO TOOK CARE OF MY CAR”they really worked with TOM and i and now baby is ready to rock and roll…

i had my mama over for the weekend and played daughter and mommy to both her and little MICKEY…it was nice…i dressed her up in “COLTS” gear too…

SOBER HOUSE 2 IS COMING OUT IN A MONTH or less  ON VH1… ive been watching CELEBRITY REHAB 3… last weeks show was amazing for me … HEID FLIESS & TOM SIZEMORE laying there talking as a once couple made me sad…(u cant act that moment as great as they were in their reality) & TOM SIZEMORE  with his girlfriend monroe(wow how she triggers him by just being in his presence) are toxic for eachother…im a little nervous about it ,SH2…i just tried my best to do what my job entailed… although im happy to say i do look much different from even that show… due to my intensive work out ,training ,eating habits and yes DARLENE oh and me too…8-O

ok so speaking intense working out my BOSS ,DARLENE  decided to crank it up a notch … ya thanks lady… to burn 3000 or omore caleries a day 10000 ateps or more and that means much more cardio and moving me around more at all times… adjusting to that has yet made me come to another challenge…she broke down how im not eating enough to burn carbs and fat so my body starts to burn muscle … this whole new way has been so intense… mentally my body doesnt want to keep going but my mind is trying… so hence me grunting like a freak at the gym and on my treadmill (poor TOM and people around me at gym) its me really going for mind over matter… last nite i watched  “THE BIGGEST LOSER’ and so effing related to them… i felt as if i was on the show… when Juliann was yelling at the poor girl who was the “teacher” about how she was playing tough girl and then her teaching her mom and her mom on the treadmill moaning,grunting thats me…breaking thru…

A NEW DAWN IS A RISING IN ME