Dr. Phil has plenty of big interviews lined up for the new season, but his brief sit-down with Nicholas Brendon might be his most explosive.
Dr. Phil has plenty of big interviews lined up for the new season, but his brief sit-down with actor Nicholas Brendon might be his most explosive.
The Buffy the Vampire Slayer star went to Dr. Phil to help him overcome his battle with addiction, but stormed out when the questions became too much for him to handle.
NEWS: Dr. Phil on Nicholas Brendon Walking Off Set
Dr. Phil told ET that when he asked the 44-year-old actor whether he'd been drinking, Brendon claimed that he hadn't.
"I said, 'I can smell alcohol on you. Is it just from the night before?'" Dr. Phil told ET. "Because the night before, he had been thrown out of the hotel we had set him up in."
In a clip from the interview, Brendon abruptly leaves the stage when Dr. Phil brings up that the actor was in a bar the night before.
"We're done," Brendon says. "I'm not doing this."
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Prior to his appearance on Dr. Phil, the actor had been to rehab three times and was arrested five times within an eight-month stretch (three times for public intoxication, once for grand theft and another time for criminal mischief). The Buffy star claimed his downward spiral into alcohol addiction was a result of a struggle with depression.
"If you really don't want to get sober, I'm the last guy you want to invite into your life, because once I get involved I will haunt you to the ends of the earth," he says.
In a Facebook message posted in August, Brendon explained why he walked off the Dr. Phil set mid-interview. In the post, he praised Dr. Phil for "all the good" he's done for people but revealed that the taping made him feel uncomfortable.
"When I was in that seat, I felt that Dr. Phil went for the jugular, talking about some of my recent mistakes, with no build up," he wrote. "I felt that he wanted me to lay the darkest parts of myself on national TV right from the start, and I'm not willing to do that."
He went on to say that he's committed to getting better, and "hopeful for a bright future."
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"My illnesses and addictions are a daily struggle for me, and I am committed to working on them for the rest of my life," he continued. "A big part of that is focusing on positivity. I'm the first to admit I've messed up, a lot, and I've hurt people I care about and who care about me."
Brendon ended his Facebook post with an apology.
"To my fans. For those of you who are disappointed by the events of the past week or the past year, I'm sorry," he wrote. "For those of you who have shared your own struggles with addiction and depression, thank you. It lifts my spirits to know we are not alone."
Watch the entire episode on The Dr. Phil Show on Wednesday.