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Former Democratic hopeful and Florida Governor Andrew Gillum is speaking out about the hotel scandal that demolished his 2020 political aspirations.
Kicking off the second season of her talk show, The Tamron Hall Show, the in-depth interview between Tamron Hall and Andrew Gillum sheds light on the incident that left the young husband and father of three unconscious in a Miami Beach seedy motel with bags on crystal meth on the scene. Gillum was found in this state alongside two other men, one of which who overdosed and been identified as a gay male escort who claimed that he and Gillum were friends.
While many debunked the photos that were being posted online as the former presidential hopeful, Gillum reveals that in real life he was in a bad space dealing with the devastating loss. Adding that alcoholism “runs in his family”, Gillum states that after he lost the gubernatorial race in 2018, he started to struggle with his drinking-solidifying his decision to head to rehab.
“Since my race for governor ended, I fell into a depression that has led to alcohol abuse,” Andrew Gillum said in a statement. “I witnessed my father suffer from alcoholism and I know the damaging effects it can have when untreated.”
After completing rehab and getting himself back on track, Gillum and his wife Jai are set to sit down with Tamron Hall to speak on the controversy that engulfed their family. In an exclusive sneak peek obtained by PEOPLE, Gillum shares that things had become so tough mentally, in regards to the controversy surrounding the hotel incident, that he came to the decision to almost take his own life.
“The truth is that, Tamron, everyone believes the absolute worst about that day,” Gillum said. “At this stage, I don’t have anything else to have to conceal. I literally got broken down to my most bare place; to the place where I wasn’t even sure that I wanted to live, not because of what I had done but because of everything that was being said about me.”
Gillum and Jai also talked about the strain the scandal caused on their relationship, with Gillum revealing that his depression had become so severe that he found himself “crying every day.”
Although the couple addresses the scandal, they are also set to talk about his rehabilitation experience and what the couple has planned next.
The Tamron Hall Show‘s Season 2 premiere is set to air on Monday, September 14.
