Avril Lavigne has spoken out about her troubled ex-husband, Deryck Whibley, revealing that he is doing well after attending her show in Los Angeles with his mom last week.
Following the shocking news that the Sum 41 star was undergoing treatment for alcoholism, the 29-year-old singer spoke exclusively with Maurie Sherman on Toronto radito station Kiss 92.5's Roz & Mocha show about his progress — and she had nothing but kind words for her former flame.
“I played Los Angeles and Deryck came to the show. I was able to visit with him and his mom and he’s doing well. I’m proud of him for taking this step,” she said.
“I love Deryck very much. He’s family to me,” added Avril, who is now married to another Canadian rockstar, Chad Kroger of Nickelback. “He’s a good guy and I want him to be happy and healthy and what he did was to let his fans know to drink responsibly.”
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Host Roz also made the shocking admission that he’d personally witnessed Deryck at his worst a few years back. Apparently, his alcoholism at the time was so bad that the segment they had been working on had to be scrapped.
Avril and Deryck during Us Weekly Hot Hollywood Awards in 2006.
“I interviewed him and it was a mess, we couldn’t even run the interview on ET Canada,” revealed Roz. “It was 10 am and he was hammered out of his mind … you don’t want anyone to look terrible and he looked terrible,” he added.
Addressing rumours that she’s instituted a so-called “no-touch” policy while meeting her fans, Avril Lavigne was quick to set the record straight.
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“I do touch my fans. My friends are very frisky actually,” she said laughing, but continued on a serious note.
“In some countries we’ve have security breaches,” she said. “Sometimes people ruin it for other people. There’s been a certain situation or circumstance prior to a meet-and-greet or with somebody sneaking into a hotel or doing some shady stuff, and they have to take extra precautions.”
“But I love having the opportunity to meet my fans,” she added.
