As a high-profile supermodel and frequent reality TV star, Janice Dickinson has had a long career in the spotlight. The outspoken 60-year-old first made a name for herself in the 1970s fashion industry, and then found a new audience in more recent years as a judge on "America's Next Top Model" and as a cast member on various reality shows. Throughout her career, however, Dickinson has struggled with substance abuse and often made headlines for antics she says were influenced by drug and alcohol use.
As Dickinson tells "Oprah: Where Are They Now?" in the above video, her abuse of drugs and alcohol began when she was working as a model in New York City. "There was free cocaine, there was alcohol everywhere -- behind shoots, backstage at fashion shows, in limousines, at Studio 54," she says.
Dickinson wasn't tempted to use at first, but then the devastating end of a relationship changed everything. "For the first five years of my career, I didn't touch drugs," she says. "But then I had a terrible breakup with a photographer. He cheated on me."
That's when the supermodel became self-destructive. "I really wanted to hurt myself," she admits.
This feeling also mirrored the pain and trauma of her childhood, which Dickinson says was marred by abuse. "I felt like, once again, I'm not good enough or I'm not worthy, like what my father used to say to me," she says. "My father verbally abused me and physically abused me... The memories have taken me several years to work through."
Now, Dickinson proudly states that she is free of drugs and alcohol.
"Through the help of a 12-step program, I was able to learn how to say no to drugs and alcohol, and then really start to work on myself," she says. "Today, I can honestly say that I'm 100 percent sober, through the grace of God."
Though her sobriety has made an incredibly positive impact on Dickinson's life, she adds later in the interview that it unfortunately seems to have a slightly different impact on her professional opportunities. "When I was acting crazy, I was getting booked nonstop," she says. "I'm sober, and the work isn't as fluent as it used to be."
Janice Dickinson's full interview airs on "Oprah: Where Are They Now?" this Saturday, May 9, at 10 p.m. ET on OWN.
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