Heather Locklear wants to ‘return to rehab’ amid sobriety battle
Heather Locklear has been “struggling” with her sobriety after previously struggling with substance abuse issues.
“She has been drinking and told friends over a month ago that she wanted to go back to rehab,” said a source close to 61-year-old Locklear and her fiancé. Chris Heisserexclusively tells Us weekly. “But she’s not in rehab.”
While the insider shares that Locklear “didn’t leave her house” recently “except for a few observations, ‘the Melrose place alum made headlines earlier this week when she was photographed looking distraught walking along the edge of a building in Malibu, California.
“It was very strange behavior to be sure, quite shocking,” said an eyewitness Us about the June 29 incident. She seemed to be talking 100 percent to herself. God knows what was going on. At one point she ran across the road making all those funny faces, then she went back and sat alone. And why was she walking along the wall in slippers? That was a seriously steep drop. If she had fallen, it would have been very dangerous.’
Locklear has sought treatment several times as she struggled with her sobriety and mental health. She completed her most recent stay in rehab in October 2019 and was ordered by a court to continue seeking therapy through an outpatient program. She was also placed in a 5150 psychiatric facility in November 2018 following reports that she assaulted 61-year-old Heisser.
Locklear has also had multiple run-ins with the law. She was arrested twice in 2018 for assaulting police officers, which sent her to prison for nearly 120 days. Instead, she reached a plea deal that required her to complete a treatment program and remain on probation for three years.
While Locklear seemingly celebrated a year of sobriety in April 2020, “Hugs come later! 1 year sober today!!!” she wrote via Instagram at the time — says the source Us that her problems continue.
“Friends say she may never have stopped drinking after a judge ordered unsupervised probation in 2019,” says the insider, adding: “She was not supervised, so no one knows if she ever stopped drinking, not even when.”
Locklear has also dealt with personal losses due to her substance abuse issues. Tell two additional sources Us that the actress has broken out with many friends in recent years.
“Heather’s loved ones are deeply concerned for her and hope this is a wake-up call to seek help,” added a fourth source. “Everyone is trying to get to the bottom of exactly what’s going on — not just the day those photos were taken, but in general, because it’s very clear that something isn’t right.”
Locklear does have family in her corner, though. The same applies to the 25-year-old daughter Avwho shares the Locklear with ex-husband Richie Sambora. That’s what an insider told me Us exclusive in 2018 that the mother-daughter duo “have always been incredibly close” amidst all of Locklear’s personal woes. (Locklear and Sambora, 63, were married from 1994 to 2007.)
Ava, for her part, echoed the sentiment tellingly a year later Wingman magazine in February 2019: “I would love to follow in my mother’s footsteps.”
Locklear and Heisser were high school sweethearts in the 1970s. They rekindled their romance in 2017, but their relationship has not been without its rough moments. After police went to Locklear’s house several times in 2018 due to fighting between the couple, she was arrested for domestic violence. Us later confirmed that the couple called it quits in 2019. However, they later got back together and announced their engagement in June 2020.