Season 12, Episode 20
Andrew
Age: 18
Location: Austin, Texas
Addiction: Bulimia
What’s memorable: So this kid submits himself to the show (obviously lying about who is doing the submitting), convinces his parents to lie to the producers and pretend he wasn’t the one who set the whole thing up, treats EVERYONE like shit, and then gets downright cruel when they actually expect him go to treatment. I understand the severity of his illness, but I just don’t know how anyone can excuse the kind of behavior he exhibited during filming. He asked for his mother to talk to him alone during the intervention, then spent the whole time berating her and trying to make her feel bad. You can just tell he’s a master manipulator and has the whole family under his control. It’s very, very disturbing. I was glad to see him get better, he was most certainly going to die of that disease, I just hope that he spends some time during recovery making amends and looking hard at how he treated the people who love him.
Official Synopsis:
In an Intervention first that reveals a surprising outcome, we reach out to 18-year-old Andrew who once dreamed of a military career, but now binges and purges up to 12 times a day.
Original Air Date: February 2013
Interventionist: Seth
i’ve seen a bunch of comments saying he’s probably lying about getting sexually assaulted in the marine boot camp. saying he could be lying, but the thing is, sexual assault is very common in the military, especially the army or the marines. And then you guys say there’s no way he just left, did you guys not read the part where he was sent home? don’t get me wrong, andrew was incredibly rude and manipulative towards his mom and siblings, but he was also a kid that went through a lot during childhood and in the marines, he should’ve got some mental help sooner tbh.
This episode drove me crazy. Maybe I’ve watched too many episodes, but the whole “I have a choice and now you’re going to call the cops.” That’s when they say, those are your choices. Not, no I won’t and then argue back and forth if she’s a bitch. That woman couldn’t put her foot down for anything, let alone a bottom line. Could she ever once just say, “Not my monkey, not my circus” when he’s asking for where his food is or all the rest. He called intervention himself and they still enabled his drama.
This kid is one of the most unlikable people to ever be on the show. Even if he were healthy, he is just an unbearable brat. I’m glad he got healthy, but good riddance. There’s some serious underlying mental issues that have nothing to do with the eating disorder or his sexual abuse claims. The kid lies so much, how could you even believe anything he says? He is insecure about his height, but that doesn’t turn you into a brat and pathological liar the way he is.
It’s not a shock that he became a Born Again Jesus freak because it’s usually a way to make oneself feel better about past transgressions.
And a way to justify being shitty to other people because YOU know the truth.
How do you know? I’ve been looking for an update on him and I couldn’t find anything!
It is now on the A&E website. I haven’t seen it in forever but I’m going to watch it. I used to be anorexic so this will be all too familiar.
The number of people completely excusing his selfish, deceitful, manipulative behavior is so sad on here. However, apple didn’t fall far from the tree since his parents knew that he was deceiving the intervention show from the get go. I’ve never disliked someone the entire episode, and I didn’t feel any better about this manipulator even after the follow up. Usually I feel really happy to see these people doing well!
He was extremely comfortable talking to his mother the way he did, meaning this has been a lifelong thing of disrespect. He should have been grateful that they still chose to help him even after it was exposed he lied. He honestly seemed like he just wanted to be on TV by the way he told his mom that it was his choice to go to treatment or not, as if he hadn’t decided yet.
The entire family needed help, and they’re all manipulators.
Same here. The way the mom at the end meekly says, “I regret not being stronger” annoyed me too.
Yes, people on these forums will blame literally anything on addiction, forgetting rthat many addicts — MOST addicts — don’t act like this. What we saw here was an hour of uninterrupted emotional abuse. His mom is the dictionary definition of an abuse victim — it hurt me to watch her try to make him stop. I remember exactly how that feels.
As someone who has suffered, and still suffers, I have so much empathy for Andrew and I really hope he conquers bulimia. It’s such a complex addiction. I’m sure that there was alsona lot of social stigma that Andrew faced with admitting to these issues on camera in front of the world.
That being said, am I the only one that found the resolution of this episode a little scripted and offputting? None of this made any sense. Nobody even explained the circumstances under how Andrew was discharged from the military.
You can’t just ~quit~ boot camp because of a traumatic incident. It guess it’s certainly possible that someone did an investigation after the sexual assault was reported, covered it up, and that Andrew was discharged anyway for a made up mental health problem, but wouldn’t that mean there’d be something in his file preventing him from re-enlistment?
And sorry but I can’t get past the whole “Andrew still plans to pursue his lifelong dream of being in the military” bullshit. I can’t even imagine a legitimate therapist would recommend for an assault victim to re-enter the environment that they were abused and treated so poorly in. Esp considering Andrew only had a few months in treatment at the time. Eating disorders have such a high recidivism rate because of how complex they are- it would be SO rash to make that commitment.
He could have experienced mental health issues after the incident and gotten separated for failure to adjust. He is not exactly barred from re-enlistment, he would need to be treatment free for at least one to two years and then apply for waivers. he would have a slim chance of getting back to the marines because they are super picky, same with coast guard and air force.
Andrew, your story touched me so much. I hope you are doing well today 💕💕💕 You made the right choice.
My heart truly goes out to Andrew and the emotional turmoil that he endured daily. I battled anorexia when I was 17/18 when it was still yet be be discovered in the medical field. I endured the childhood bullying for being chubby and as I branched out from a private Baptist elementary school into reality of a secular junior high and high school, I succumbed to the pressure of being beautiful and skinny. I was already a perfectionist so I believe my personality fit the script. I began gradually loosing weight the usual way via diet and exercise; however, upon receiving positive feedback, I kicked it up a notch and then another and than another until I was eventually banned from the gym due to liability purposes. I remember my mother seeking for answers and help and eventually I ended up hospitalized at 58 pounds at 18 years old at UCLA. I thank God that I had and have many loving family praying for my recovery. I am now free from anorexia and thankful to be alive.
Does anyone have any recent updates on Andrew and his family!?? I always wondered what happened to him. Such a heartbreaking story. The twist in finding out he submitted himself to the show, all the while his parents knew and lied for him, just showed how sick he and the entire family were. I hope he is doing better and overcame the pain from his past. Any updates would be awesome!
I’d love an update as well. I can’t find his last name anywhere. (In order to look him up) At first, I thought he was such a horrible d-bag, the way he treated everyone , especially his mother. During the pool scene when he was really freaking out, I finally got a clue and realized how much pain he was in and couldn’t help his behavior. I let out a huge ‘OH MY GOD’ when I saw him at the followup 72 days later! He looked SO fantastic! He looked happy and healthy, an entirely different person on the inside as well as the outside. I hope he’s well. Hope someday we get an update.