From Reality Show to Real-Life Drama

March 28, 2008— -- The wild success of "The Osbournes" reality show made them Hollywood royalty. They were teens tempted by every pleasure and vice: Jack was the raging younger son, and his sister Kelly the rebellious, pint-size spitfire.

Rock legend Ozzy Osbourne's kids grew up before America's eyes on MTV. What many didn't see was the downward spiral they were taking, walking in the wayward footsteps of their once hard-drinking, drug-using father.

Jack got drunk for the first time on his 13th birthday. One year later, he was on his way to being an addict, adding marijuana and other drugs to the alcohol use. The youngest Osbourne told ABC's Deborah Roberts that the family name and reputation made him feel pressure to behave a certain way. "I felt like it's what I kind of had to do, to a certain degree. It was yeah, I'm a crazy party guy. Look, I'm an Osbourne," he said.

Little by little, Jack began losing control and breaking his own limits. "You find yourself drinking more and more throughout the week. Then, OK., fine, I won't smoke pot in the week -- only on weekends," he recalled. "And then you find that slowly goes out the window… one thing after another, you have no boundaries for yourself."

For Kelly, the prescription painkiller Vicodin offered comfort and an escape from public scrutiny and the self-doubt that tormented a vulnerable teenage girl. "All the voices in my head that were telling me that I was worthless, that I was fat, that I'll always just be someone's daughter and never make anything for myself … all these things in my head, as soon as I took this pill, just silenced," she said. Kelly took her first pill at age 13. By 16, she was an addict.

And fame made everything worse. Like many young Hollywood celebrities, the Osbourne siblings were surrounded by their "entourage" of fairweather friends who Kelly says were usually just along for the ride, often justifying the alcohol and drug abuse.

"I was the way that they got into the club they wanted, and I was their meal ticket," said Kelly. "It's like you surround yourself with people that are doing the same thing as you. So then it doesn't make you feel bad, 'cause then you can say, 'Oh, look, he's doing it too. It can't be that bad.'"

'I Didn't Like the Person I Was'

But it was bad.

The brother and sister got into 21-and-over clubs with fake IDs, drinking, partying and bringing friends back to the Osbourne estate, where their raucous behavior awakened their parents.

Sharon and Ozzy admonished Kelly and Jack to "stay home" and "not go out so much," but like many parents had trouble controlling their rambunctious teens. On television sets across the country, Kelly's mood swings and fits of temper escalated to a fever pitch.

"It turned me into a very unforgiving, very bratty, selfish person," said Kelly about those times. "I didn't really want to be like that. But I didn't like the person I was, so I took drugs."

Meanwhile, Jack began suffering bouts of depression. His drinking and drug use became extreme. "I was so overcome with the addiction, and I couldn't stop," he reflected. "I wasn't happy when I was drunk or high, and I wasn't happy when I was sober. I was suicidal, pretty much on a daily basis."

Then an emotional bombshell rocked the family. Sharon was diagnosed with cancer. Jack tried to take his own life with a deadly combination of alcohol and prescription drugs. The attempt was unsuccessful. At his parents' urging, the 17-year-old entered a rehab facility. One year later, as Jack celebrated 12 months of sobriety, Kelly -- now taking as many as 100 prescription pills a day -- hit rock bottom.

"I remember one night being woken up by my mom punching me in the back so that I started breathing again in bed, and I had pissed myself in my sleep," she said. "I'm sorry, but at 20 years old, to wake up by your mother trying to resuscitate you in a bed of your own piss, that is mortifying."

Visting Rehab

Like her brother before her, Kelly went to rehab. But success wasn't found the first time around. Kelly tells ABC she spent that time getting massages, lying by the pool, getting acupuncture and joining a few rehab groups.

"It was like holiday without a bar for me," she said. "But in that case, although I got high as soon as I got home, I was really, really guilty about it, and this guilt I had never felt before." She said she grew uncomfortable with making apologies for her drug-influenced behavior.

Although it would take her two more tries in rehab, Kelly said something eventually "clicked." She recalls the moment when she realized it was time to make it work.

"The third time [in rehab] for me was when it got so bad, so, so, so bad. And the drugs that I was using were not prescription and not joking and not something that you could have any excuse for, that if I was caught with, I would go to jail," she said. "I haven't touched it since."

Moving Forward

Today at 23 and 22, Kelly and Jack Osbourne are self-sufficient and living on their own. In April, Jack will celebrate five years of sobriety. He's written a book about his battle with drug and alcohol abuse called "21 Years Gone" and now hosts a British reality show called "Adrenaline Junkies." On the show, Jack travels the world in pursuit of extreme adventures. "I've done climbing, sky diving, you know, white water rafting, endurance races, things like that."

But he says the adrenaline rush he gets from these activities isn't a replacement for the drug and alcohol highs of his past. "I do it because I get a sense of achievement and satisfaction out of it," he said.

Kelly's sobriety is not as defined as her brother's. She says she still drinks socially and doesn't count the days she's gone drug-free.

"I find that for myself, as soon as I start counting, it's when my head will tell me, well, you've done three whole months and you've done absolutely nothing, this will be fine," she explained. "So I don't count." But it seems she has made peace with the demons of self-doubt and unhappiness that originally led her to abuse drugs in the first place.

The once volatile teenage girl with the quick temper and fighting spirit has grown into a calm, confident young woman. Kelly's a recognized recording artist and host of another popular U.K. show called "Project Catwalk." She has stopped fighting and now realizes that sometimes there can be victory in defeat. "You have to almost admit defeat before you can become anywhere close to wanting to get sober, because you have to realize that addiction is more powerful than you."