ABC/Byron Cohen(NEW YORK) — Jersey Shore‘s Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino is five years sober. The reality star celebrated his latest milestone over the weekend, revealing that he officially marked half a decade of sobriety last month.
“BDS has been through some situations in life, addiction being one of them,” Sorrentino, 38, penned in an emotional Instagram post, “I have grown a lot as an individual, overcome a lot of obstacles, and one of my proudest moments so far has been celebrating 5 years of continuous sobriety this past December.”
The Dancing with the Stars alum also shared an image of the special token his treatment center created to mark the occasion.
“Receiving my 5 year medallion made me feel like I won a gold medal, and it is a badge I am honored to wear,” he gushed before revealing why he decided to open up about his journey to sobriety.
“I share my journey of addiction, because it is so important to break the stigma of addiction. People are suffering out there because they are afraid to speak out about needing help,” said Sorrentino. “If I can help just one person find their voice, I know it was all worth it!”
The reality star also issued words of encouragement to those who know someone struggling with addiction by assuring them they are not alone and can be instrumental in helping their loved one get the help they need.
“If you or someone you know are struggling with addiction or mental health issues, don’t be afraid to ask for help. If I can do this I know you can too,” he closed and provided his treatment center’s contact information in hopes that the person who calls it will “start the journey of the rest of your life.”
ABCMorgan Wallen‘s Dangerous: The Double Album continues to dominate the Billboard 200, which is adding a little insult to injury for Luke Bryan. As it turns out, the country superstar really hoped to wrestle one of the album’s singles away from Wallen.
Speaking to Apple Music over the weekend, HARDY, who co-wrote the track “Sand in My Boots,” revealed to Wallen that the American Idol judge “fell in love” with the song.
When speaking about how the single came to be, HARDY — born Michael Wilson Hardy — told the 27-year-old singer, “I just had that idea in my phone for forever… I just had this idea about just a summer love kind of thing and I wanted to call it ‘Sand in My Boots.'”
Wallen noted he “immediately fell in love with it” the second he heard it, which forced HARDY to divulge some pretty big news to the “Dangerous” singer.
“[Luke Bryan] fell in love with it, too,” the songwriter confessed, but attested he had no idea how the “One Margarita” crooner even got his hands on the demo.
But, as HARDY revealed, “Sand in My Boots” was already a done deal because “We wanted you to have it. We thought you could make it cool.”
“Sorry, Luke,” Wallen closed out with a laugh.
“Sand in My Boots” is currently number 8 on the BillboardHot Country Songs chart while Wallen’s Dangerous album has notched its second consecutive week on top of the Billboard200.
The country crooner is partnering with Spirit Airlines and Mastercard to promote the new Free Spirit Mastercard loyalty program with a first-of-its-kind performance at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in Florida.
The show will begin from inside a new Spirit aircraft before Brett takes his music to the tarmac, where he’ll be accompanied by a light show. Details about the loyalty program will be revealed throughout the one-hour set.
“It’s been amazing to team up with our friends from Spirit Airlines and Mastercard for our next virtual show — hope you’re able to tune-in to see all of the cool things they’ve been working on,” Brett says.
“Thanks to everyone who has continued to be a part of our virtual shows over the past year,” he adds. “I’m so excited to kick off 2021 with fun ways to stay connected until we can all be together again. See y’all on the runway!”
Additionally, Spirit will donate 100,000 points to the charity of Brett’s choice, myLIFEspeaks, which works to improve quality of life in Haiti through family empowerment, educational excellence and public health.
Brett and the on-site crew will adhere to COVID-19 safety protocols throughout filming.
Brett Young: Live from the Runway is free to view and airs on February 4 on Spirit Airlines’ YouTube channel at 8 p.m. ET.
ABC(LOS ANGELES) — Kourtney Kardashian has reportedly been on the heavily tattooed arm of drummer Travis Barker.
E! News reports that the reality star and the Blink-182 member and busy music collaborator have been friends for years, but have taken their relationship to the next level by “casually dating” since December.
An insider tells E!, “It’s been very low-key. They are a really good match, and Kourtney’s entire family already loves Travis. They have been neighbors and great friends for years, and it just recently turned romantic.”
The insider dishes that Barker has always been interested in Kourtney, and the two “have a lot in common.” Apparently, the fact that Barker’s such a good dad makes him attractive to the Keeping Up with the Kardashians star.
“He’s an amazing, hands-on dad, and Kourtney loves that about him,” claims the insider. “They love relaxing at home with their kids, and everyone gets along. It’s going well, and they aren’t putting pressure on it being super serious at this point.”
Barker has two children with his ex-wife Shanna Moakler hile Kourtney has three kids with Scott Disick, from whom she split in 2015.
(NEW YORK) — Happiness can go hand-in-hand with success and a new Super Bowl ad tapped some of the world’s most accomplished athletes, including Peyton Manning and Serena Williams, to show how they have fun off the playing field.
Michelob Ultra’s newest ad campaign poses the question: “Are you happy because you win, or do you win because you’re happy?”
“When I look back on my football career, I felt our teams won a lot of games and I played my best games when I was happy. I had a lot of joy during my football career,” Manning told Good Morning America on Monday. “There’s the old saying, enjoy the journey not the destination. And when I think back on my memories during my 18 years of playing, I think about those plane rides with my teammates, I think about hanging around the locker room, laughing with each other, I think about taking the offensive linemen out to eat on Thursday nights, keeping them well-fed, maybe having a couple of cold beverages and that was well worth it.”
He continued, “Those are some of my greatest takeaways. Those happy moments that I felt brought our team together and helped us win more games on Sunday and help us win a championship. And then of course you’ll have the happiness after, but I think you can certainly do both.”
Manning, who retired in 2016 after leading his Denver Broncos to a Super Bowl title, said “I have no regrets. I left it all out there on the field. But I do miss my teammates.”
Now one of his longtime competitors and close friends, Tom Brady, is headed to Super Bowl LV with Tampa Bay in his first year with the Buccaneers to face defending champion Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs.
“Tom has just been the ultimate professional — I give him all the credit. He’s put in the time, sacrificed, he’s formed a bond with his new teammates in a short period of time, in a pandemic offseason, so he’s earned the right to have his team in a Super Bowl in his hometown,” Manning said.
He explained that this matchup will make for “a great Super Bowl.”
“It’s kind of the new guard vs. the old school guard — Mahomes is just exciting to watch — a guy that plays with a lot of joy and that’s a big part of him playing so well. I can tell you those Chiefs are having a lot of fun,” Manning said. “But Tom is Tom, he’s been doing it for so long and there’s nothing he hasn’t seen before. So it’s going to be a battle of those two quarterbacks.”
“Picking against Tom Brady at home I’m not sure anybody can do that, but Patrick Mahomes a chance to win back-to-back Super Bowls. The only guy to do that recently has been Tom Brady, so I have such respect for both of those guys, I can’t pick against either one of them,” he said with a laugh.
Manning did make a different prediction about Brady’s career no matter the outcome in Tampa.
When asked if Brady should retire if he wins, Manning said, “I don’t think he will.”
“It’s such an individual decision, nobody can make that decision for you, I have so much respect for Tom, the battles we had on the field, we formed a friendship off the field as well, always felt he brought out the best in me and vice versa for him,” he said. “I don’t think he will because it’s his first year in Tampa. He’s having a lot of fun, he’s happy, he’s joyous and I can see him doing it for a few more years no matter what happens on Super Bowl Sunday.”
Another superstar athlete stressing the importance of happiness, and making an appearance by way of the new Michelob Ultra ad, will be Serena Williams.
The 23-time Grand Slam winner, who is currently quarantining with her husband Alexis Ohanian and her daughter Olympia ahead of the Australian Open, told GMA that they are “a huge contribution” to her success.
“For me, I win because I’m happy,” she said. “I love being around Olympia — It’s so good to have this experience with her, because I’ve gotten so much time to spend with her that I wouldn’t have had otherwise — so it’s been really good to have an opportunity to just be with her 24/7.”
She and her 3-year-old have enjoyed time on the tennis court as well as exercising their imaginations.
“We, like, make up things — l look at something and say, ‘oh, that’s a giraffe,’ or that we’ll go to the fake zoo. And my imagination has been pushed to its limits,” Williams said. “And so it’s kind of cool because I feel like I can be a kid again and have imagination.”
ABC/Byron Cohen(NEW YORK) — Jersey Shore‘s Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino is five years sober. The reality star celebrated his latest milestone over the weekend, revealing that he officially marked half a decade of sobriety last month.
