Josh Peck Opens Up About His Past Drug and Alcohol Addiction

NOT REGRET THE PAST NOR WITH TO SHUT THE DOOR ON IT –

Mar. 9, 2022 – Born and raised in New York City, Peck began performing stand-up comedy as an adolescent before a breakout role on Nickelodeon’s The Amanda Showled to Drake & Josh.

“I spent most of my life dying to be typical but I grew up with a single mom, I was overweight and I was a musical theater kid who really had no social status,” says Peck, who recalls being teased relentlessly because of his size. “Comedy was my natural defense mechanism.”But eventually, the actor, who weighed nearly 300 pounds at 15, (he recalls regularly eating large pizzas on his own) knew he had to make some healthy changes and after 18 months of diet and exercise, he dropped 127 pounds. But still, he wasn’t satisfied.

“It became clear that once I lost the weight that I was the same head in a new body,” Peck says. “What is really clear is that I overdo things. And then I discovered drugs and alcohol. And that became my next chapter. I used food and drugs to numb my feelings.”