Josh Peck's Raw Confession: Admits 'Close Calls' With Drugs In Teen Years

Nickelodeon star Josh Peck is opening up about the time in his life when he turned to drugs and alcohol in his teen years, even having some "close calls."

The now 36-year-old first became famous thanks to his role on "Drake & Josh," where he starred alongside Drake Bell. Being in the spotlight during those years of his life was challenging, especially being "morbidly obese."

He thought that losing 125 pounds would solve all of his problems, however, he soon realized it didn't, and then, that's when he turned to drugs and alcohol.

Josh Peck is opening up about becoming famous at such a young age, and how it even led him down a bad path with drugs and alcohol. It all started when he was a "morbidly obese" teen on the hit sitcom, 'Drake & Josh.' Following his time on the Nickelodeon show, Peck thought losing weight would help solve his problems.

"At 17, I lost all this weight, but I was like the same head but in a different body. I thought, 'I'm at the finish line. I did it. Now I just don't have to worry about anything,'" Peck said on the Cancelled with Tana Mongeau podcast, "But quickly, I was still plagued with the same thoughts and things that had plagued me my whole life. Dad issues, you name it."

During this time in his life, the former child star found himself wanting to make up for his lost years as he was fulfilling his acting career by working on Nickelodeon's 'Drake & Josh.'

"I also was 17 and supremely stupid, and it's time for me to catch up. I have to party now because I spent my teenage years alphabetizing my DVDs and not going and making out with people. So now it's time," he explained.

"I just spent four years being a total cliché," he added. "I think the most insidious or corrosive moment of my life was the first time I tried drugs and I was 17. I'm lying in bed that night and I realized what a great time I'd had that night. I felt charming, handsome, and I was having great conversations and talking to girls."

Peck added that the drugs made him "feel free", explaining his thought process of "Why would anyone ever want to feel any other way but this?"

Peck then admitted that at one point in his life, he may have had an addiciton to food, but when he was cutting weight, that addiction turned to drugs and alcohol, even leading to some "close calls."

"I can look back on that now and go, 'Oof.' That was the moment where I said, 'Oh, this is who I am,' and that sent me on a four-year vision quest that could have been really bad," he said on the podcast.

In 2008, Josh Peck got sober and was able to handle his addiction the same year he turned 21. "To be able to have gotten out of it at 21, I feel grateful. There were a lot of close calls."

"I just felt like a cliché. And I was breaking my mom's heart," he added of his motivation to seek treatment.