ABC anchor Elizabeth Vargas checks into rehab for alcohol abuse: ‘I will deal with this challenge one day at a time’

[Cincinnatus]

ABC’s “20/20” co-anchor Elizabeth Vargas has been MIA on the air for weeks, and Confidenti@l has learned she’s been in a well-respected rehab center for alcohol abuse.

“She’s checked herself into a facility, and she’s getting treatment,” one insider close to Vargas, 51, tells us. “She’s been there for a few weeks and will be there for another few weeks

Vargas, who will be returning to her anchor perch behind the news desk when she is released and feeling better, confirmed she is in a treatment center and relayed the following:

Like so many people, I am dealing with addiction. I realized I was becoming increasingly dependent on alcohol. And feel fortunate to have recognized it for the problem it was becoming. I am in treatment and am so thankful for the love and support of my family, friends and colleagues at ABC News. Like so many others, I will deal with this challenge one day at a time. If coming forward today gives one other person the courage to seek help, I’m grateful.”

Though I have little use for anyone who works in network news I wish her well.

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/gossip/confidential/abc-anchor-elizabeth-vargas-checks-rehab-alcoholism-article-1.1508749#ixzz2ju4QWdxk

[EC]

Same. Good luck to her.

[NavyCanDo]

I believe Laurie Dhue who disappeared from FOX News went through the same thing, and it may have been the reason she left FOX.  Its good to see her back on the Blaze.   

[Rapunzel]

I believe Laurie Dhue who disappeared from FOX News went through the same thing, and it may have been the reason she left FOX.  Its good to see her back on the Blaze.

Yes. She did a one-hour interview with Beck discussing it, very poignant.

[NavyCanDo]

Laurie Dhue and Elizabeth Vargas both very beautiful women and the last people you would suspect of being alcoholics. But that's our fault or maybe the fault of Hollywood of stereotyping what an alcoholic looks like. 

[truth_seeker]

Laurie Dhue and Elizabeth Vargas both very beautiful women and the last people you would suspect of being alcoholics. But that's our fault or maybe the fault of Hollywood of stereotyping what an alcoholic looks like.

On Feb. 5, 2014 I will celebrate 20 years sober. Trust me, alcoholics come in all flavors. I've attended meetings with entertainment figures, doctors, lawyers, teachers, police, business owners, priests, rich and poor.

Consider yourself fortunate if nobody in your families has had a problem. My sister-in-law, from a very well to do family, lost a brother and sister-cut down way too young. She was instrumental in getting me help.

Most alcoholics get plenty of help, but never surrender to the truth--they can never drink or drug safely.

[EC]

Most alcoholics get plenty of help, but never surrender to the truth--they can never drink or drug safely.

That was the hardest lesson to learn. You get a little voice inside your head, whispering "Go on, just one. you are cured!" Took a while to get that and learn to tell the voice to go away - though in blunter terms. It is BS. Being an addict is for life. All you can do is try not to.

Congrats on 20 years!  I'll be 4 years sober in 10 days 

[Cincinnatus]

Said it before and I shall now say it again: God bless and aid both of you, Truth_Seeker and EC, in your endeavors to stay sober.

[EC]

He did, my friend. He did.

[truth_seeker]

Said it before and I shall now say it again: God bless and aid both of you, Truth_Seeker and EC, in your endeavors to stay sober.

Thanks. The path to happy long term sobriety is: don't drink, don't die, don't forget you cannot ever expect to drink "successfully" like others can, because you are an alcoholic.

And there is nothing to be ashamed of, you won't miss the "good times" others that can drink, may have.

Alcoholics Anonymous saves lives, families, marriages, and if it is a cult, it is a cult that aims to do good, and does do good.

[Oceander]

That was the hardest lesson to learn. You get a little voice inside your head, whispering "Go on, just one. you are cured!" Took a while to get that and learn to tell the voice to go away - though in blunter terms. It is BS. Being an addict is for life. All you can do is try not to.

Congrats on 20 years!  I'll be 4 years sober in 10 days 

While it's not nearly as destructive, smoking is a similar addiction when it comes to not smoking.  I see myself as a smoker who just hasn't felt like lighting one up for the last 4-1/2 years, but I am still a smoker, and I know that I cannot just socially smoke the way some people can; I either don't light up at all, or I smoke a pack to a pack and a half a day; there is little in between.  I'd rather not smoke around my daughter, and I sure as shootin' don't feel like giving Bloomie or Uncle Cuomo all the tax money they put on cigarettes, so I just don't smoke, and I don't let myself try to fool myself into thinking that I can manage my smoking the way that a social smoker can.

[EC]

While it's not nearly as destructive, smoking is a similar addiction when it comes to not smoking.  I see myself as a smoker who just hasn't felt like lighting one up for the last 4-1/2 years, but I am still a smoker, and I know that I cannot just socially smoke the way some people can; I either don't light up at all, or I smoke a pack to a pack and a half a day; there is little in between.  I'd rather not smoke around my daughter, and I sure as shootin' don't feel like giving Bloomie or Uncle Cuomo all the tax money they put on cigarettes, so I just don't smoke, and I don't let myself try to fool myself into thinking that I can manage my smoking the way that a social smoker can.

Yep - addiction is addiction. The bugger of it is, you tend to replace one addiction with another. It seems to be a defect in the brain - bad bit of wiring - that creates the addictive personality.

The guy who got me off drinking virtually disappeared for a year after he quit himself. Was he in rehab? Drinking again? Dead? We didn't know. Turns out he was spending nearly 10 hours a day playing World of Warcraft, on top of his job. He replaced one addiction with another. Another dear friend (almost a daughter) who stopped drinking became obsessed with all things Riddick. Another (who does actually call me Dad when we chat ) replaced cutting with cooking. Not eating - cooking.

Sure, those replacement activities are all harmless enough - but they are still addictions.

[alicewonders]

I have a theory that addictions are mechanisms that attempt to fill a hole in your psyche.  I quit my cigarette habit when I was 30 years old - 27 years ago.  I still have pangs for one when I am under increased stress.  I loved the ritual of the morning cup of coffee, the morning paper and a cigarette.  Aaaahhhhhh........

But I digress and I haved dated myself too.  My husband smoked many years after I quit & it bothered me everyday.  Now, he has quit & we're good.  However, I can still smoke "socially" on rare occasions.  I have a special friend that smokes the same brand I used to & I will bum one from him about once a month.  My husband realizes that if he just had ONE cigarette, he would go back to chain smoking. 

My cigarette addiction helped me deal with stress, it was a social crutch for my husband as he is naturally an introvert and shy.  I replaced smoking with cooking AND eating, and of course, gained weight afterward (most of which I still worry with). 

 

[mountaineer]

Good grief.

Elizabeth Vargas’ husband ‘had affair when she was in rehab’
By Emily Smith
March 12, 2014 | 10:27pm

Elizabeth Vargas’ husband, Marc Cohn, had an affair with Flywheel co-founder Ruth Zukerman while the ABC anchor was in rehab, multiple sources exclusively tell Page Six.

The sources claim that songwriter Cohn — who wrote “Walking in Memphis” and has been married to Vargas since 2002 — was seen with the divorced spin guru during and after Vargas was undergoing treatment for alcohol addiction.

Vargas sought treatment in rehab last fall and returned to the air on “20/20” in January. Prior to that, Vargas and Cohn were both friends with Zukerman after becoming regulars at her Flywheel spin classes.

One source told us, “Marc made out he was an angel, standing by his wife while she was in rehab. But meanwhile, he started an affair with a mutual friend, Ruth Zukerman.”

The source said the affair came to light when they dined together at a restaurant near Flywheel’s Flatiron studio, just after Vargas left rehab. “A mutual friend spotted Ruth with Marc and called Elizabeth,” the insider said. A second source added, “It was disgusting that he was with Ruth while Elizabeth was in rehab.”

Vargas, who has two sons with Cohn, ages 7 and 10, was not available for comment. An ABC rep declined to comment. Reps for Zukerman and Cohn didn’t get back to us.

But a mutual friend insists that Cohn and Zukerman are “just friends” and only had one dinner together after Cohn and Vargas “separated” after the anchor left rehab.

“Ruth is friends with the both of them,” said the source. “Elizabeth and Marc are separated. Both are legitimately entitled to have dinner with a friend. Ruth and Marc don’t have an ongoing relationship. They had one dinner together. There is no affair.”

But Cohn and Vargas are still currently living together and are not officially separated.

A different source close to Cohn said, “This isn’t a case of a husband wronging a wife while she struggled with her personal problems. Their marriage has struggled for a long while, but he has been a supportive husband and a loyal dad.”

[happyg]

If true, her husband wasn't as supported as he pretended to be. His infidelity certainly wouldn't help a wife struggling with alcoholism, and might have led her to it.

However, what you see is not always what it seems. We owned a neighborhood bar, and the gossip was constant. Most of it was false. I hope, for their sake, that it was just a dinner with friends.

[EC]

Hey! My wife obviously had an affair, since she went out to dinner twice with a mate of mine while I were away and she was seen kissing him once on the cheek.

Nice evidentiary standard, Page Six. Unfortunately, the National Enquirer pretty much has that line sewn up.

[alicewonders]

If true, her husband wasn't as supported as he pretended to be. His infidelity certainly wouldn't help a wife struggling with alcoholism, and might have led her to it.

However, what you see is not always what it seems. We owned a neighborhood bar, and the gossip was constant. Most of it was false. I hope, for their sake, that it was just a dinner with friends.

Yeah, and what kind of "mutual friend" would call a friend while she was in rehab to tell her something like that?

[mountaineer]

Yeah, and what kind of "mutual friend" would call a friend while she was in rehab to tell her something like that?

Well, to be fair, it looks like the call came after she got out. 

the affair came to light when they dined together at a restaurant near Flywheel’s Flatiron studio, just after Vargas left rehab...

Still, a story of questionable veracity, even for Page Six.

[mountaineer]

FWIW, the husband appears not to be denying it, exactly.

Vargas’ husband says alleged cheating is a ‘private matter’
By Emily Smith
March 14, 2014 | 10:26pm

The husband of ABC News’ Elizabeth Vargas has issued a smarmy statement after Page Six revealed he cheated on the “20/20” anchor while she was in rehab.

We reported that “Walking in Memphis” songwriter Marc Cohn embarked on an affair with Flywheel spin guru Ruth Zukerman while Vargas was in treatment for alcohol addiction.

But in his statement, Cohn appears to blame his straying on Vargas’ battle with addiction and “long-standing issues” in their marriage. “I will not comment on what is an extremely sensitive and private family matter — addiction and recovery are serious challenges and it’s been a tough road for all of us,” Cohn told People.

“I have been supportive of Elizabeth in the past — and will continue to be — regardless of the long-standing issues in our relationship,” he continued. ...