By Bruce C.T. Wright
(NewsOne) – Andrew Gillum and his wife will be featured on the season premiere of “The Tamron Hall Show” in what has been billed as a chance for the former Florida gubernatorial candidate to open up about the hotel incident earlier this year that led to him entering rehab.According to a press release from “The Tamron Hall Show,” Gillum “will discuss his swift fall from grace, his rehabilitation experience in the face of adversity, and share what life looks like now” during the episode scheduled to air Monday. Gillum’s wife, R. Jai Gillum, was also a part of the exclusive interview “to discuss the impact this has had on their marriage and their family and what the future holds.”
A brief snippet of the interview was featured in a promo teasing the season premiere episode and shows an emotional Gillum saying, “I cried every day.”
Gillum was once considered a rising star within the Democratic Party and even had President Barack Obama campaign for him ahead of the 2018 midterm election that he barely lost to current Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
He frequently exchanged pointed barbs with Donald Trump on Twitter and endeared himself to the liberal political structure until that fateful early morning of March 13 when Gillum was found inebriated and unresponsive in a compromising position with two other men in a Miami Beach hotel room where a police report indicated there was suspected drug use. A series of graphic photos purportedly of Gillum from inside the hotel room showed drugs. Gillum quickly released a brief public statement apologizing and saying he had too much to drink before he voluntarily entered rehab days later.
More than four months later, Gillum officially broke his silence in July to offer a “personal update” and address “rumors” in a candid video testimonial about the trials and tribulations he’s faced since that hotel incident.
Specifically addressing his buts with alcoholism and depression since losing the 2018 midterm election, Gillum spoke openly and honestly about the personal demons he said he was forced to confront while in rehab.
“I had to do something about it and I had to do it now,” he said.
However, when it came to addressing what exactly led him to enter rehab, Gillum was light on details and instead lamented how ashamed he was.
“While my stuff had to be public and cause great embarrassment, lots of rumors, false, some true — the shame that I felt from all of that, from the harm that I had caused was tearing me up,” he said. “I needed real help to try to unpack that.
It was unclear if he would be more forthcoming with Tamron Hall on her show, but the press release makes it sound like he will.
The Season 2 premiere of “The Tamron Hall” is scheduled to air Monday on ABC.
