SHOWING a close-up of her drug-ravaged septum to the camera, Paris Jackson was a far cry from the doll-like little girl her father Michael Jackson had paraded around.
The pressure of growing up in Neverland had led to a nightmare of booze, cocaine and heroin addiction for the aspiring musician. Now sober and with the scars to show for it, insiders tell us how a surprising Brit reality stars played a key part in Paris’ recovery.
Earlier this month, Paris shared her astonishing social media video revealing the damage that drugs had done to her nose.
“I have a really loud whistle because you can hear it when I breathe through my nose,” she said, admitting her perforated septum, a shocking result of snorting drugs and cocaine in particular, could be “very noticeable”.
“It’s what you think it’s from” she said pointing at the camera. “Don’t do drugs kids… it ruined my life.”
Defending her use of the graphic image she said: “As a recovering heroin/fentanyl/cocaine/alcohol/etc addict, it’s part of my primary purpose to carry the message of recovery to others.”
Back in January, the musician told her Instagram followers that “today marks five years clean and sober from all drugs and alcohol“, adding bravely: “Hi, I’m PJ and I’m an alcoholic and a heroin addict.”
She added: “To those that helped me on this journey, if only for just the beginning, middle, or the whole time so far, you know who you are and I owe you my life”.
Insiders tell us that help came from an unusual source – former Towie star Tom Kilbey.
Tom, 35, joined the Essex reality TV show in its fourth series back in 2012, with his sister, Cara Kilbey, already a cast member.
A former professional footballer, the millionaire’s son dated popular Towie star Lydia Bright for a time, but he left the show by series seven and moved to Los Angeles.
By 2017, Tom and Paris – who also lives in LA – had become such close friends that the musician joked she wanted to “legally adopt” him as a big brother.
The former reality TV star was a fixed part of Paris’ friendship circle by 2019, the year she finally got help for her addictions by going into rehab and having plenty of therapy.
The tipping point for change? A confronting message from her British best friend.
Our insider said: “Paris’ best friend Tom has played a huge part in her sober journey.
“He has supported her every step of the way.
“It’s thought he was the one who told her she would die if she didn’t get her act together, and he reminded her that she had so much going for her.”
Tom went sober himself a year later, telling Paris touchingly in an Instagram post this July: “Sober together forever love you.”
Our source continued: “She’s been sober for five years now and tells friends she owes Tom so much.
“It’s been a true bonding experience for them both.”
‘I tried to grow up too fast’
Paris, who receives $8 million a year from her late father’s estate, could certainly afford to have the best surgeons in the world perform corrective surgery on her nose, but she is reluctant to try, in case she relapses into drug addiction.
She explained: “You have to take pills when you do a surgery that gnarly, and I don’t want to f*** with that.
Just 11 when she had to deal with the trauma of her dad’s sudden death from overdosing on prescription drugs in 2009, Paris’ life was far from normal.
Her mother was Michael’s former nurse Debbie Rowe, who first had son PrinceJackson in 1997 before Paris Katherine Jackson came along in 1998.
Debbie’s role as a mother was unconventional – when she and her megastar husband divorced in 2000, she handed him sole custody of her children and received a settlement of more than $6 million in return.
A third sibling, Blanket Jackson, who is now known as Bigi, arrived via a surrogate mother in 2002.
Paris and her brothers grew up at the infamous Neverland ranch in California, surrounded by zoo animals, fairground rides and celebrity visitors.
“Because I was the only girl, my dad loved playing dress-up,” she recalled. “I looked like a porcelain doll, and I hated it.”
Following her father’s death, the traumatised 11-year-old moved into her uncle Jermaine’s California compound, and her young life began to spiral out of control as his family wrestled for control of his vast fortune.
“I was doing a lot of things that 13, 14, 15-year-olds shouldn’t do,” Paris would later reflect, saying she began to hang out with “older, crazy people”.
“I tried to grow up too fast, and I wasn’t really that nice of a person.”
By the time she was 15, the socialite was an intravenous drug user, and she went on to attempt suicide.
Years of hard partying followed, and at just 20, the musician’s nose began to fall apart.
Genuine friendships have been tricky for the star, with our insider revealing: “Paris really had to look at who she was hanging out with, any addict knows you have to ditch certain people to get clean.
“It’s hard being famous, and Paris has learnt the hard way that she can’t trust everyone, which is why her friends are so important to her.”
As well as Tom, her inner circle also includes Towie’s Vas J Morgan, 36, who has been sober since 2017.
“You have literally held my hand through the darkest times and danced with me in the brightest,” he wrote of his friendship with Paris on her birthday last year.
Our insider explains: “Her group may seem surprising to some people, but she’s been drawn to like-minded people who really inspire her and support her, like Vas and Tom.
“She really couldn’t care less that they started on a reality show.”
Paris’s protective friendship group includes bigger Hollywood names, too.
Her godfather is Home Alone star McCauley Culkin, who recently supported her during her breakup with her fiancé, actor Justin Long, in July.
McCauley, 45, once described recreational drugs as “old friends” he had outgrown and today lives a sober life with wife Brenda Song and their young sons Dakota and Carson.
Paris Hilton, 44, is another long-term pal – her mum Kathy Hilton was a school friend of Paris’ father Michael, and they both vowed to name their daughters Paris one day.
When her namesake shared her powerful message marking five years of sobriety in January, Paris Hilton replied simply: ‘So proud of you sis’.
Meanwhile, Cara Delevigne, 33, is a former fling turned supportive friend.
Life is a constant test for her but she’s determined to make her late father proud.
Insider
Paris met the British model and actress back in the late 2010s when they were signed to the same modelling agency, IM,G and they bonded over music, “spending nights singing and jamming on the guitar”, according to a Sun source.
Cara sought treatment for her own addictions in 2022 and, like Paris, today she celebrates her sobriety and encourages others.
Sofia Richie, 27, and Kendall Jenner, 30, were also linked to Paris in her early modelling days, although in 2017, the musician criticised Kendall and Kylie Jenner‘s limited edition t-shirts, which saw the sisters superimposed over musical legends.
Wise beyond her years, materially, Paris wants for nothing, and she is set to receive a share of a $3 billion inheritance when she turns 33.
Emotionally, growing up in the spotlight and losing her father at such a young age has not been easy, and it is a testament to the musician’s strength and close-knit friendships that she is in a good place today.
As she puts it: “I’ve found that life keeps happening regardless of whether I’m sober or not, but today I get to show up for it.”
Keen to prevent the lives of others from being ruined by addiction, Paris spoke directly to her fans about the dangers of taking drugs this month, saying: ‘I don’t recommend it because it ruined my life’.
“Paris is really looking to the future now,” said our insider.
“She knows she can do more, and she will.
“Life is a constant test for her, but she’s determined to make her late father proud.”
How to get help
EVERY 90 minutes in the UK a life is lost to suicide
It doesn’t discriminate, touching the lives of people in every corner of society – from the homeless and unemployed to builders and doctors, reality stars and footballers.
It’s the biggest killer of people under the age of 35, more deadly than cancer and car crashes.
And men are three times more likely to take their own life than women.
Yet it’s rarely spoken of, a taboo that threatens to continue its deadly rampage unless we all stop and take notice, now.
If you, or anyone you know, needs help dealing with mental health problems, the following organisations provide support:
