Cape Town - Brooklyn Nine-Nine star Terry Crews and his wife, Rebecca, recently appeared on Dr Phil’s talk show to share his former struggle with porn addiction and how it almost cost them their marriage.
The 49-year-old actor told Dr Phil he was a “card-carrying member of toxic masculinity” and that this almost ruined his marriage.
“When we got married we started a family and she put everything on hold for 20 years. There were times I’d have three jobs at the same time and she’d be like ‘I’ve got the kids, I’m taking care of the home’, and all during the successful career, I‘ve got an addiction to pornography,” he shared.
He managed to keep it secret from his wife for a long time, but the truth finally came out. “When I first confronted Terry, we had it out! He told me about the prostitutes, he told me about the porn and I said, ‘You know we’re done right?’” Rebecca said on the show.
“The hardest part was knowing that someone I loved, respected and trusted was nothing like I thought he was. And everything was a lie,” she continued.
Feeling betrayed and lied to, Rebecca threw Terry out of the house, until he realised he had to get help – not just for their marriage, but for himself too.
“He made the commitment to get better, whether or not he got us back,” said Rebecca.
“I didn’t go to rehab to get my wife back, I went there because I needed to be a better person,” Terry concurred.
Eventually Rebecca made the decision to stay married but Terry says he had to earn it, and is still earning it and gaining her trust back.
Menwhile, his addiction to porn wasn’t anything new. Terry told talk show host Wendy Williams that his addiction started when he was just 12-years-old.
In an interview about his book, Manhood, Terry explained: “Pornography addiction turns into something else. You can’t have something like that in your life without it growing into something else. Everything grows!”
Watch Terry and Rebecca tell Dr Phil all here:
