Drew Barrymore Shocks Co-Host After He Praises Her “Gorgeous” Teenage Years on ‘The Drew Barrymore Show’: “I Was in Mental Institutions, Too”

By Samantha Nungesser Twitter @samjnungesser
Published Sep. 23, 2022, 10:50 a.m. ET

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It’s no secret that Drew Barrymore lived a life of partying and debauchery as a child. And on today’s episode of The Drew Barrymore Show, the actress, who has been open about her journey, made a joke about her “mixed bag” teenage years.

During the Drew’s News segment, Barrymore and co-host Ross Mathews talked about the “Teenage Dirtbag” trend on TikTok, where people clip together photos of their teenage selves to the hit Wheatus song.

“When you look back on those teenage pictures of yourself, it’s not always cute, right? I mean you were, like, on red carpets. You were gorgeous as a teenager, right?” Mathews asked.

Barrymore quipped, “I was in mental institutions, too. So trust me, it’s a mixed bag. It’s a mixed bag of photographs,” to which a shocked Mathews exclaimed, “Oh!” before breaking out into laughter.

The actress, who starred in her first big movie, E.T. the Extra–Terrestrial, at seven years old, previously opened up about her 18-month stint in the Los Angeles institution, where she was treated for a drug and alcohol addiction at 13 years old, during the Season 2 premiere of her talk show.

“I was a real wild child and I just got so out of control that no one knew what to do with me,” Barrymore said, per People. “They drove me here in the middle of the night and they walked me through those two doors and when you go through those two doors you do not come out. And I was there for a year and a half.”

Despite her tumultuous childhood, she told viewers of today’s episode what she would really kick her younger self for — and it’s not the embarrassing pictures.

“Of all the things I’ll beat up on myself about, the way I look or have looked growing up, like, I don’t ever look back on pictures and think negative thoughts,” she said. “I beat myself up about, like, time management. I’m like, ‘You look good, but your time management sucks.'”

The Drew Barrymore Show airs on weekdays at 9:30 a.m. ET on CBS.