The new season of Celebrity Rehab will premiere on VH1 on September 16—and hawk-eyed viewers will note a difference between this and previous seasons: no celebrities. “Over the course of the five seasons of Celeb Rehab, we were flooded with calls, emails and letters from viewers asking if we could do a show featuring non-celebs, so that is what we did,” host and creator Dr. Drew Pinsky exclusively tells The Fix. “Treating non-celebrities is what I’ve been doing for the past 30 years in my day-to-day life.” About this season’s addicts, Pinsky says, “It’s the most intense group I’ve treated, either on TV or off, and this is the most powerful and moving season to date. I hope viewers will tune in and get the message I have so desperately been trying to get across: addiction is a deadly disease but with treatment there is hope.” The new season will focus on eight of Pinsky’s “most challenging patients to date” and will include his standard Rehab support team: Bob Forrest, Shelly Sprague, Dr. John Sharp and Jennifer Gimenez. A sneak peek of the show is can be viewed on VH1.
