Aaron Carter says he’s “really excited to just start this new chapter” in his life after a chaotic 2017.
The pop singer spent two months in a treatment facility after undergoing many stressful situations including the death of his father — who died suddenly from a heart attack in May. He also broke up with his girlfriend Madison Parker, and was arrested for a DUI and for marijuana possession and faced much criticism from people online about his appearance.
“People are saying I have HIV, I have AIDS, I’m a meth head, I’m a crackhead, I do heroin. It really hurts,” Carter said during an interview on Aug. 14 with Elvis Duran on The Z100 Morning Show.
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Carter, who has spoken in the past about having an eating disorder, gained 45 pounds during treatment, going from 115 lbs. to 160 lbs. He said that he felt “amazing.”
“I definitely felt like I hit a rock bottom personally and emotionally,” Carter told People. “I started getting really stressed out about things like my relationship or the expectations people had for me, and then I just stopped eating. That’s when I thought, ‘This is a time for me to really go take some time and do some self-healing.’”
Carter checked into Alo House in Malibu to seek professional treatment for his mental and physical health in September.
READ MORE: Aaron Carter shows off progress in rehab
“It’s amazing to see what happened when I just took some time off for myself, looked around and found ways to appreciate life,” he said. “I’ve seen a huge change in myself and my attitude and my demeanor and my morale. It’s beautiful.”
During his appearance on The Real on Feb. 15, Carter said he’s “cautiously optimistic” about his future.
“You know, I’m feeling very cautiously optimistic,” he said. “I learned a lot of things from last year. It was a very exhilarating year, full of good things, good times, and then trials and tribulations. My dad passed away last year. … I kind of went on a downward spiral.”
The I Want Candy singer said he learned “to put myself first and to really truly love myself and be comfortable of what I see in the mirror.”
“Last year, I got so stressed out from all kind of miscellaneous things,” he said. “I went down to like a 115 pounds and then I went to a treatment center and I came out 160 pounds.”
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Carter said he is staying healthy by “surrounding myself with positivity and focusing on the good things and not on a hater on social media.”
“It’s so funny how one person can get under your skin,” he said.
The 30-year-old pop star said that now that his new music is released, he’s ready to face whatever may come next.
“I had to immerse myself in it to really get the best out of it that I could,” he said about his time in treatment. “I’m going to stay in that path and focus on my music, my life and my health. I’m really excited to just start this new chapter in my life.”