Jan. 16, 2023 – He struggled for years with substance abuse. He later had a string of headline-making arrests, and was incarcerated for four years. Now six years sober, Hicks is proud to say his addiction to alcohol and Xanax — as well as his illegal behavior — is in the past.
“I feel good about myself, I do. I do feel good because I know how far I’ve come and I know what it was — and stuff like this, you never get over,” Hicks, now 31, tells PEOPLE exclusively. “I think the people I let down and the people affected, this is going to live with me forever. It’s always going to be there as a reminder of how bad things can get.”
The actor-musician’s journey to sobriety and self-acceptance took years.
As a child star appearing on the Disney Channel, Hicks says he “never drank” on set because acting was a “high in itself” throughout his “incredible” experience with the network. But he admits to feeling as if he was leading a double life; out of the studio he was secretly battling substance abuse.
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