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Will there be a second season of Netflix's 'Sirens'? Here's what to know about the dark comedy's ending.

28 May 2025 at 20:13
Glenn Howerton as Ethan, Milly Alcock as Simone, and Meghann Fahy as Devon in "Sirens."
Glenn Howerton as Ethan, Milly Alcock as Simone, and Meghann Fahy as Devon in "Sirens."

Netflix

  • Netflix's "Sirens" centers on two sisters and an alluring billionaire.
  • The five-episode series takes place over the course of Labor Day weekend at a ritzy seaside estate.
  • "Sirens" is classified as a limited series, and Netflix hasn't announced plans for another season.

Warning: Major spoilers ahead for "Sirens."

Netflix's new dark comedy "Sirens" is so addictive, it may leave fans calling out for more.

"Sirens" takes place over Labor Day weekend on a lavish island called Port Haven, where aspiring lawyer Simone DeWitt (Milly Alcock) is working as a live-in assistant to the enigmatic and alluring billionaire Michaela Kell (Julianne Moore). Simone's life among the upper class is disrupted by the arrival of her older sister, Devon (Meghann Fahy), who treks from Buffalo to the town in order to reconnect with Simone and get help taking care of their ailing dad, Bruce (Bill Camp).

The five-episode series is adapted from Molly Smith Metzler's play Elemeno Pea, which she wrote while attending the Juilliard School. She serves as the showrunner.

During its premiere week, "Sirens" debuted in the No. 1 spot on Netflix's English TV list and amassed 16.7 million views in four days.

Although "Sirens" ends by tying up the main characters' storylines, some questions remain, leaving fans wondering if this is the last they've seen of everyone.

Here's what happens to every major character, and a rundown of whether "Sirens" could be back for season two.

The 'Sirens' ending swaps the fates of Simone and Michaela

Milly Alcock as Simone and Julianne Moore as Michaela in "Sirens."
Milly Alcock as Simone and Julianne Moore as Michaela in "Sirens."

Netflix

At the end of episode four, after Simone rejects his proposal, a drunken Ethan (Glenn Howerton) calls her a monster, blames her for his problems, and trips and falls from the estate's cliff. Ethan doesn't die, though. In the finale, he wakes up in the hospital high on meds with both his legs, an arm, and a couple of ribs broken, though he's expected to make a full recovery.

Michaela then fires Simone after learning that her husband, Peter (Kevin Bacon), and Simone kissed. Even though it was a momentary lapse in judgment from Peter that Simone didn't instigate, Michaela feels that Simone can't be trusted anymore and has become a threat to her marriage.

Devon chooses to return to Buffalo with her dad to continue being his caretaker, rather than spend a month on a yacht with Morgan (Trevor Salter), one of the locals she hooked up with. But Simone refuses to join them, because she's unable to forgive her dad for neglecting her as a child, since his actions led to her ending up in foster care.

Simone runs back to the Cliff House with no plan, just desperate not to return to Buffalo. In doing so, she bumps into Peter, who proclaims his love for her.

Mid-gala, Peter ends his 13-year marriage to Michaela and starts a relationship with Simone, who he believes will bring "love and light" into his life (and maybe even another child).

Simone then morphs into Michaela 2.0, adopting her cultlike mannerisms and embracing her new position of power at the estate. She and Devon have an emotional goodbye, knowing that they're embarking on completely different paths.

On the ferry ride out of Port Haven, Devon runs into Michaela, who's been ousted from Cliff House and has no idea where she's headed.

Devon apologizes for accusing Michaela of being a murderer and a cult leader, and Michaela accepts her apology and encourages Devon to cash the $10,000 check she gave her at the start of the series so she can fund a better life for herself in Buffalo.

The series concludes with Simone, wearing an elegant light-blue gown that Michaela got her for the gala, standing at the cliff, staring at the vista during sunset with the hint of a smile.

Will 'Sirens' return for season two?

Milly Alcock as Simone in "Sirens."
Milly Alcock as Simone in "Sirens."

Netflix

The short answer: probably not.

"Sirens" is categorized and promoted as a Netflix limited series. That said, a second season isn't entirely unlikely.

"Adolescence" skyrocketed in popularity since its debut in March and is currently Netflix's third most-watched English-language show of all time, behind season one of "Wednesday" and season four of "Stranger Things." Although it was labeled as a limited series, Brad Pitt's production company, Plan B Entertainment, is reportedly interested in some form of a second season of "Adolescence" after the first season's success.

Considering how well "Sirens" has performed on the streamer since its release, it wouldn't be surprising if the series didn't end up being limited after all. But for now, Netflix hasn't announced any further plans.

Fahy told Variety that the show reaches a natural conclusion, but she could imagine a continuation.

"I, for one, would love to know what happens to Michaela, where she goes," she said. "So I think it's definitely within the realm of possibility. We didn't talk about it on set, but I would love to do more."

Metzler, for her part, told Glamour that questions about a second season mean that fans are invested in the characters.

"I wrote the play 15 years ago," she said. "I've been thinking about them this whole time. I could write them until the day I die. I'd never say never, but could I do them justice in another season? I'd have to think about it."

"The fact that so many people are asking is really encouraging," she added.

All episodes of "Sirens" are now streaming on Netflix.

Read the original article on Business Insider

41 celebrities who have been open about their sobriety

22 May 2025 at 19:58
A composite of actors Tom Holland, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Bradley Cooper.
Tom Holland, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Bradley Cooper are among the stars who have spoken about their sobriety.

Presley Ann/Getty Images for SeeHer; Evan Agostini/Invision/AP; Myrna M. Suarez/Getty Images for ABA

  • Some celebrities are open about their sobriety.
  • For some, abstaining from alcohol and drugs comes after overcoming addiction. Others have different reasons.
  • Bradley Cooper, Tom Holland, Miley Cyrus, and more stars have spoken about their sobriety. 

Some celebrities are open about personal hardships, like efforts to abstain from alcohol and drugs. 

Actors like Jamie Lee Curtis, Bradley Cooper, and Anthony Hopkins have been sober for over a decade, while stars like Tom Holland and Lucy Hale have been candid about embarking on their sobriety journeys in recent years. Others, including Dax Shepard and Kelly Osbourne, have been honest about the challenges of maintaining their sober lifestyle.

Here are 41 celebrities who have spoken about their sobriety. 

Anjelica Oswald contributed to an earlier version of this story. 

Miley Cyrus
Miley Cyrus at the 2025 Met Gala.
Miley Cyrus at the 2025 Met Gala.

Michael Buckner/Penske Media via Getty Images

Cyrus spoke about her sobriety during a wide-ranging interview with Apple Music 1's Zane Lowe.

The singer said that she focuses on therapy, nutrition, and working out in the gym.

"Some of the brokenness I felt, I've really put myself back together," she said. "It's why I physically take such good care of myself."

"I've learned this about myself over the years: the sobriety, that's like, my God," Cyrus added. "I need it. I live for it. It's changed my entire life."

Bradley Cooper
Bradley Cooper at the LA premiere of "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3."
Bradley Cooper in April 2023.

Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP

Cooper has been sober since he was 29. He told GQ in 2013 that he got sober because he realized that "if I continued it, I was really going to sabotage my whole life."

Cooper played a musician struggling with addiction in 2018's "A Star Is Born," which he also directed. He told Variety that it was a "cathartic" experience. 

"Anytime you're trying to tell the truth you need to go to places and use things that have happened to you, or you've read about or experienced," he said. "And that's all part of the beauty of turning whatever things you've gone through into a story. I find that to be very cathartic."

During an appearance on a 2023 episode of "Running Wild With Bear Grylls: The Challenge," Cooper said that he was "very lucky" to overcome his addictions. 

Cooper also said he was grateful to be sober when he played Jackson Maine in "A Star Is Born."

"Thank goodness I was at a place in my life where I was at ease with all of that, so I could really let myself go," he said. "I've been very lucky with the roles I've had to play. It's been a real blessing. I hope I get to keep doing it."

Tom Holland
Tom Holland at the 2024 Critics Choice Awards in Santa Monica, California.
Tom Holland at the 2024 Critics Choice Awards in Santa Monica, California.

Presley Ann/Getty Images for SeeHer

Holland spoke about his decision to become sober during an appearance on the podcast "On Purpose With Jay Shetty," released in July 2023.

After having a "very boozy December," the British actor chose to participate in Dry January. During that time, Holland found that he kept thinking about drinking, "and it just really scared me," to the point that he realized he has a dependency. 

Holland said he was "definitely addicted to alcohol" and didn't know how to navigate social settings without drinking. 

"I was really, really struggling and I started to really worry that maybe I had an alcohol problem. So I decided that I would wait until my birthday, which is June 1," the actor said. "I said to myself, 'If I can do six months without alcohol, then I can prove to myself that I don't have a problem.' And by the time I got to June 1, I was the happiest I've ever been in my life."

"It's honestly been the best thing I've ever done," Holland added. "I'm a year and a half into it now. It doesn't even cross my mind. I've found amazing replacements that I think are fantastic, ones that are also really healthy."

Holland's sobriety also led him to launch Bero, a premium non-alcoholic beer brand in 2024. 

Jamie Campbell Bower
Jamie Campbell Bower in November 2022.
Jamie Campbell Bower in November 2022.

Presley Ann/Getty Images for Netflix

"12 and a half years ago I was in active addiction," the "Stranger Things" star wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, in July 2022. "Hurting myself and those around me who I loved the most. It got so bad that eventually I ended up in a hospital for mental health. I am now 7 1/2 years clean and sober."

"I have made many mistakes in my life, but each day is a chance to start again. Atone for mistakes and grow," he continued. "For anyone who wakes up thinking 'oh god not again' I promise you there's a way."

"I'm so grateful to be where I am, I'm so grateful to be sober," he said. "I'm so grateful to be. Remember, we are all works in progress."

Jessica Simpson
Jessica Simpson in September 2022.
Jessica Simpson in September 2022.

Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Jessica Simpson Collection

Simpson celebrated seven years of sobriety in November.

"I was at a place where I was literally spiraling with the alcohol and I was missing out on moments with my children, and then they were seeing me and they were very confused," Simpson said during an appearance on "The Kelly Clarkson Show" in 2020.

"I just wanted to be present and have clarity and be a good role model for my children, because I always wanted to be a good role model for the world, so why in the world would I be stuck in this cycle of having to wake up and have a drink before going to one of their school assemblies?" she continued. 

"It got to the point where all of my life has escalated and I couldn't suppress it," Simpson said. "And alcohol, it wasn't working. It was making me completely check out."

The star said that when she stopped drinking, she had "so much clarity."

Eminem
Eminem performing in November 2022.
Eminem performing in November 2022.

Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic

Eminem, real name Marshall Mathers, almost died from an accidental overdose of the drug methadone in 2007. He later entered rehab and celebrated 12 years of sobriety in April 2020.

Eminem opened up about his addictions in a 2022 essay for XXL magazine, saying that drugs became "a part of the way I was living my life" once he got signed to a record label. 

The rapper recounted going to Tijuana multiple times to get drugs like Vicodin because it was "so easy to go back and forth to do it."

He said the "heaviest drug usage and addiction spanned only about five years of my life." His addiction worsened following the release of "The Marshall Mathers LP," as he was readying for his "Encore" album. 

"I was taking Vicodin, Valium, and alcohol," Eminem said. 

At one point, the rapper said he was taking 75 to 80 Valiums "a night."

During an appearance on Paul Rosenberg's "Paul Pod" podcast in 2022, Eminem spoke about how his life changed when he got clean while working on his "Relapse" album. 

"I remember when I first got sober and all the shit was out of my system, I remember just being, like, really happy and everything was fucking new to me again," he said. "It was the first album and the first time that I had fun recording in a long time." 

Robert Downey Jr.
Robert Downey Jr. at the UK premiere of "Oppenheimer" in July 2023.
Robert Downey Jr. at the UK premiere of "Oppenheimer" in July 2023.

Scott Garfitt/Invision/AP

Robert Downey Jr. was arrested multiple times on drug-related charges over the span of a few years in the late '90s. He later spent time at the California Substance Abuse Treatment Facility and State Prison and has focused on staying sober since.

"Job one is get out of that cave," he told Vanity Fair in 2014. "A lot of people do get out but don't change. So the thing is to get out and recognize the significance of that aggressive denial of your fate, come through the crucible forged into a stronger metal."

Rob Lowe
Rob Lowe in April 2023.
Rob Lowe in April 2023.

Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty Images

Rob Lowe received the Spirit of Sobriety award in 2015 to celebrate 25 clean years.

"Being in recovery has given me everything of value that I have in my life," Lowe said when accepting the award. "Integrity, honesty, fearlessness, faith, a relationship with God, and most of all gratitude. It's given me a beautiful family and an amazing career. I'm under no illusions where I would be without the gift of alcoholism and the chance to recover from it."

Calvin Harris
Calvin Harris in June 2023.
Calvin Harris in June 2023.

Joe Maher/Getty Images

DJ and producer Calvin Harris told the BBC that he stopped drinking at 24 because it was affecting his work.

"I wasn't an alcoholic or anything like that, but it was clearly affecting what I do," he said. "My live shows are a million times better now. If you drink, you can't even remember if it's a good show or not — and that's probably for the best, because it would have been rubbish because I'd have been drunk and not making any sense."

Lucy Hale
Lucy Hale in July 2023.
Lucy Hale in July 2023.

Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images for Miu Miu

Hale told Byrdie that she decided to quit drinking after spending a few years in the party scene.

"I'm just always trying to surround myself with better people and be the best version of myself possible," she said. "I know it sounds obnoxious to hear people say that, but why not?"

Hale celebrated three years of sobriety with an Instagram post in January 2025. Hale said that since choosing to abstain from alcohol, "I've experienced moments that can only be described as pure miracles and magic."

"I am deeply grateful every day—for the people who have been guiding lights, for a power greater than myself that loves me unconditionally, and for my own perseverance in not giving up," she wrote. "To all of you who have supported my journey, I have felt your love and it means everything to me."

Daniel Radcliffe
Daniel Radcliffe in November 2022.
Daniel Radcliffe in November 2022.

Andy Kropa/Invision/AP

In a conversation with Marc Maron for his "WTF" podcast in 2015, Daniel Radcliffe opened up about his alcohol addiction. 

"There was definitely a time when I was coming out of 'Potter' and I was into the real world, suddenly I was in a world where I'm not going to have that consistency anymore," he said. "I was pretty inconsolable on the last day of 'Potter.' I was really worried. I was living alone, and I think I was really freaked out ... I drank a lot, as has been recorded."

Lana Del Rey
Lana Del Rey performs on stage at L'Olympia on July 10, 2023 in Paris, France.
Lana Del Rey performing in July 2023.

Kristy Sparow/Getty Images

In an interview with British GQ in 2012, Lana Del Rey spoke about her struggles with alcohol and drugs as an underage teen.

"That's really why I got sent to boarding school aged 14 — to get sober," she said. "I was a big drinker at the time. I would drink every day. I would drink alone. ... I knew it was a problem when I liked it more than I liked doing anything else."

She eventually ended up at a rehab center for drug and alcohol addicts when she was 18.

Ben Affleck
Ben Affleck at the world premiere of "Air" in March 2023.
Ben Affleck in March 2023.

Ashley Landis/AP

Affleck first checked into rehab in 2001 and has continued to work on his sobriety through the years. In March 2017, the actor took to his Facebook page to talk about going back to rehab. 

"I have completed treatment for alcohol addiction; something I've dealt with in the past and will continue to confront," he wrote. "I want to live life to the fullest and be the best father I can be." 

His ex-wife, Jennifer Garner, took him to rehab again in August 2018. 

In a 2020 interview with The New York Times, Affleck named Bradley Cooper and Robert Downey Jr. as "guys who have been very supportive and to whom I feel a great sense of gratitude."

He also said that it "took me a long time to fundamentally, deeply, without a hint of doubt, admit to myself that I am an alcoholic."

Brad Pitt
Brad Pitt in February 2023.
Brad Pitt in February 2023.

Stephane Cardinale - Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images

In a 2017 interview with GQ, the actor talked about quitting drinking. 

"I mean, we have a winery. I enjoy wine very, very much, but I just ran it to the ground," he said. "I had to step away for a minute. And truthfully I could drink a Russian under the table with his own vodka. I was a professional. I was good." 

Kristin Davis.
Kristin Davis on "Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen" in June 2023.
Kristin Davis on "Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen" in June 2023.

Charles Sykes/Bravo via Getty Images

Davis spoke with Health magazine about her addiction in 2010. 

"I'm a recovering alcoholic," she said. "I've never hid it, but I've been sober the whole time I've been famous, so it wasn't like I had to go to rehab publicly."

Keith Urban
Keith Urban performing in June 2023.
Keith Urban performing in June 2023.

Terry Wyatt/WireImage

Keith Urban told Rolling Stone in 2016 that he turned to drugs and drinking in the late '90s. 

"I stepped up my drinking. I started doing more drugs," he said. "Yeah, man. The whole back end of the '90s were just awful."

He added: "You know, early on in my sobriety, there was a period when I wished I hadn't succumbed to drugs and everything the way I did. It sucked up so much creative time, when I should have been in the studio working. But I don't know what came from that time, other than that I'm where I am because of, or in spite of, nobody knows and never will."

Joe Manganiello
Joe Manganiello in March 2023.
Joe Manganiello in March 2023.

Cindy Ord/VF23/Getty Images for Vanity Fair

"I battled with addiction at a young age and got to the other side of that," he told Haute Living in 2015. "That's an ongoing battle. I think there's a story in there somewhere about trying to find my way through that and making it to where I am today." 

In 2018, he accepted a Spirit of Sobriety award.

"Sixteen years ago … I crashed and washed ashore on the banks of sobriety," he said. "When I was growing up, when I thought of an alcoholic, I thought of some toothless old guy in a trench coat in a basement somewhere. I just never thought that would apply to me. That type of stigma kept me from getting the help that I needed when I knew I needed it."

Gerard Butler
Gerard Butler in January 2023.
Gerard Butler in January 2023.

Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images

Butler spoke to Men's Journal in 2012 about being 15 years sober then. He said he went to rehab before he could reach full-blown pill addiction. 

"Maybe a stronger person wouldn't have needed to go," he said. "When you hear the word rehab, you think, 'He's a mess, he's fucked up.' But I'm glad I did it. I've made a shitload of wrong decisions in my life. But I know I've made some right ones as well."

Tobey Maguire
tobey maguire
Tobey Maguire in 2019.

Hutton Supancic/Getty Images

In 2003, the actor opened up to Playboy about being a recovering alcoholic and going to Alcoholics Anonymous.

"It's just all practical," he said. "There are no holes in the program. It's so, so simple. I come in, I ask for help. It has totally changed my life."

Russell Brand
Russell Brand in January 2020.
Russell Brand in January 2020.

Lester Cohen/Getty Images for The Recording Academy

Brand went on "Megyn Kelly Today" to discuss his recovery in 2017. He previously had an addiction to heroin and alcoholism. 

"When I started, I took it one day at a time," he said. "Ultimately, I found that spirituality worked for me."

He celebrated 20 years of sobriety in December 2022.

"I'm 20 years clean and sober today," the comedian said on Instagram. "Thank you to all the people who have helped me to remain clean. It's never done on your own."

Ewan McGregor
Ewan McGregor in April 2023.
Ewan McGregor in April 2023.

Jeff Spicer/Getty Images for Disney

Ewan McGregor has been sober since 2001. He told Playboy in 2005 that he stopped drinking before it could ruin his life.

"I knew I was lucky, and somehow I knew that if I didn't stop, everything would go tits up — my career, my family, my everything," he said. 

Naomi Campbell
Naomi Campbell in May 2023.
Naomi Campbell in May 2023.

Lionel Hahn/Getty Images

Vogue reported that the model didn't know if she'd make it through the early 2000s. 

"The time between 1998 and 2005 was especially bad," she said. "During that time I avoided looking in the mirror, because I didn't like the person who was looking back at me. To be honest, there were times I thought I wouldn't survive. I used to have a lot of problems. Amongst others I drank too much so I joined Alcoholics Anonymous to get and stay sober."

She is also a member of Narcotics Anonymous. 

"It doesn't matter what walk of life — addiction and alcoholism doesn't discriminate," she said at the Fortune Most Powerful Women International Summit in 2017. 

Colin Farrell
Colin Farrell at the 2023 Oscars.
Colin Farrell at the 2023 Oscars.

Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic

During an appearance on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" in 2017, Farrell celebrated his recovery. Farrell reportedly checked into rehab again in 2018 as a preventive measure when he began to feel urges, according to The Sun. 

He spoke about getting clean in a 2021 interview with The Irish Times, saying: "After 15 or 20 years of carousing the way I caroused and drinking the way I drank, the sober world is a pretty scary world."

"To come home and not to have the buffer support of a few drinks just to calm the nerves, it was a really amazing thing," Farrell added.

Tim McGraw
Tim McGraw performing in June 2023.
Tim McGraw performing in June 2023.

Terry Wyatt/WireImage

Tim McGraw quit drinking in 2008 when his family and friends began to worry about him.

"When your wife tells you it's gone too far, that's a big wake-up call," he told Men's Health."That, and realizing you're gonna lose everything you have. Not monetarily, not career-wise, but family-wise. I drank too much. I partied too much. And did other things too much." 

Tom Hardy
Tom Hardy in September 2021.
Tom Hardy in September 2021.

Tristan Fewings/Getty Images for Sony

Hardy has been sober since he was 25. The actor sobered up in 2003 by using a 12-step program. He told Esquire it was his "first port of call." 

"It was hard enough for me to say, 'I'm an alcoholic,'" he said. "But staying stopped is fucking hard."

Kelly Osbourne
Kelly Osbourne in May 2023.
Kelly Osbourne in May 2023

Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images

Osbourne relapsed in 2021, after almost four years of sobriety.

"I am an addict and had thought that I had enough time under my belt and I could drink like a normal person, and it turns out I cannot and I will never be normal," Osbourne told Extra at the time. 

"This is something I am going to battle for the rest of my life," she added. "It's never going to be easy."

She celebrated one year of sobriety the following year.

"What a difference a year can make!" she wrote on Instagram. "If you would have told me 365 days ago that I would be sober, happy, and about to be a mumma I would have laughed in your face. Life is truly amazing when you do the work. Thank you to everyone that has supported me on this journey."

John Goodman
John Goodman in June 2023.
John Goodman in June 2023.

Stephane Cardinale - Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images

Goodman struggled with alcoholism for years and even drank while filming the original "Roseanne." At one point, star Roseanne Barr confronted him about it. 

While on Howard Stern's SiriusXM show in March 2018, Goodman said, "She was scared for me, but she was more confrontational. She'd already had a husband go through the process."

He added: "The last four years were pretty bad, and I was drinking at work and [Barr] was scared for me. I was ashamed of myself, but I couldn't stop."

Dax Shepard
Dax Shepard in March 2023.
Dax Shepard in March 2023.

Jason Bollenbacher/Getty Images for SXSW

In 2012, Shepard told Playboy that he struggled with an addiction to drugs and alcohol. He said that from the ages of 18 to 29, he was a "heavy smoker, heavy drinker, drug addict, terrible eater, and philanderer."

"I just loved to get fucked-up — drinking, cocaine, opiates, marijuana, diet pills, pain pills, everything," he told Playboy. "Mostly my love was Jack Daniel's and cocaine."

He said that he'd get sober for some movie roles but then get right back into his drug and alcohol habits. 

Shepard's wife Kristen Bell wrote an emotional post on Instagram in September 2018 to celebrate his 14th year of sobriety. 

"I know how much you loved using. I know how much it got in your way. And I know, because I saw, how hard you worked to live without it," she wrote. "I will forever be in awe of your dedication, and the level of fierce moral inventory you perform on yourself, like an emotional surgery, every single night...'m so proud that you have never been ashamed of your story, but instead shared it widely, with the hope it might inspire someone else to become the best version of themselves."

In 2020, Shepard revealed on his podcast, "Armchair Expert," that he relapsed after 16 years of sobriety following a motorcycle accident that resulted in him using painkillers. At the time of the episode's release, the actor was seven days sober. 

Stephen Moyer
Stephen Moyer in February 2023.
Stephen Moyer in February 2023.

Tibrina Hobson/Getty Images for SBIFF

The "True Blood" star stopped drinking and went into rehab after the birth of his first son. 

"I got to a point in my life where I was totally out of control," he told The Telegraph in 2017. " I was shocked into doing something about it and fatherhood was definitely a big aspect of that —the catalyst that shook me. And I would never want to go back there." 

He added: "People, say, 'When are you going to be able to have a drink again?' And my answer to that is, 'I've already drunk all the drinks that I was supposed to drink in one lifetime.'"

John Mayer
John Mayer in August 2023.
John Mayer in August 2023.

Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for SiriusXM

Following Drake's 30th birthday party, Mayer was hungover for six days. It was after that experience that he decided to stop drinking.

"I looked out the window and I went, 'OK, John, what percentage of your potential would you like to have? Because if you say you'd like 60, and you'd like to spend the other 40 having fun, that's fine," he told Complex. "'But what percentage of what is available to you would you like to make happen? There's no wrong answer. What is it?' I went, '100.'"

During a 2022 interview on the podcast "Call Her Daddy," Mayer said that he hasn't really dated since getting sober.

"I don't think I have to, to be quite honest," he said. "I quit drinking like six years ago, so I don't have the liquid courage. I just have dry courage."

Dennis Quaid
Dennis Quaid in August 2023.
Dennis Quaid in August 2023.

Ed Rode/Getty Images

Quaid opened up about his cocaine addiction in an interview with The Sunday Times in 2018.

"I liked coke," he said. "I liked it to go out. I missed it for quite a while. I was doing about two grams a day."

He said he was "lucky" to get a sign that led him to rehab. 

"I had one of those white-light experiences where I saw myself being dead and losing everything I had worked for my whole life, so I put myself in rehab," he said. 

He stopped drinking for 10 years while kicking his drug addiction but later got back into alcohol.

"I started drinking again, because alcohol was never my problem," he said. "I never liked the feeling of being drunk. I would do coke and I would use alcohol to come down." 

Charlie Sheen
Charlie Sheen in May 2021.
Charlie Sheen in May 2021.

Michael Buckner/Penske Media via Getty Images

Sheen has struggled with alcohol and drug addiction for years. He quit doing cocaine and drinking for 11 years, but he told Dr. Oz in 2016 that he relapsed following his HIV diagnosis. 

"It was to suffocate the anxiety and what my life was going to become with this condition and getting so numb I didn't think about it," he said. "It was the only tool I had at the time, so I believed that would quell a lot of that angst. A lot of that fear. And it only made it worse." 

The actor told Us Weekly in 2019 that his daughter helped him realize he needed to get sober. 

"It was a Sunday. My daughter called and said, 'I need to get to this appointment immediately,' and I'd already had a few drinks," he said.

Sheen called a friend to drive because he couldn't.

"On the drive back, I was just like, 'Damn, man, I'm not available. I'm just not responsible, and there's no nobility in that,'" he said. "It was that night, I just sat with all that." 

Sheen continued: "If you can't be available for the basic necessity of being there for your children, then something really needs to shift. It was that next day that I said, 'All right. It's time. Let's give this a shot.' And then a month went by, a couple months went by, I'm [like], 'Alright. This feels good. This feels good.'"

The actor also told Jay Leno in 2019 that his sobriety "didn't require anything super dramatic and crazy and front-page news."

Zac Efron
TORONTO, ONTARIO - SEPTEMBER 13: Zac Efron attends "The Greatest Beer Run Ever" Premiere during the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival at Roy Thomson Hall on September 13, 2022 in Toronto, Ontario.
Zac Efron in September 2022.

Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images

Back in 2013, Efron went to rehab for alcohol addiction.

"I was drinking a lot, way too much," he told The Hollywood Reporter about a year after his stint at rehab. "It's never one specific thing. I mean, you're in your 20s, single, going through life in Hollywood, you know? Everything is thrown at you."

He joined Alcoholics Anonymous and started seeing a therapist to help him on his journey, but added that battling addictions is a "never-ending struggle."

He told Elle in 2016 that getting sober provided him with "structure" in his life. 

Jamie Lee Curtis
Jamie Lee Curtis in 2023.
Jamie Lee Curtis in 2023.

Jeff Kravitz/Getty Images

Curtis has been sober for more than 20 years. In an interview with People magazine in 2018, Curtis revealed that she became addicted to opioids for 10 years following minor plastic surgery in 1989.

"I was ahead of the curve of the opiate epidemic," Curtis told the magazine. "I had a 10-year run, stealing, conniving. No one knew. No one."

Her husband didn't even know until she went to her first recovery meeting in 1999. 

"Getting sober remains my single greatest accomplishment," Curtis said. "Bigger than my husband, bigger than both of my children, and bigger than any work, success, failure. Anything."

Josh Brolin
Josh Brolin in May 2022.
Josh Brolin in May 2022.

Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images for Amazon Studios

Brolin entered rehab in 2013 and honored his five-year anniversary of being sober with an emotional Instagram post detailing a horrific night he was drunk. 

"Drunk: when you think you're having a rip roaring time and the next morning you wake up and your brain has broken into a frenzied beehive, and your body is shattered shards of sharp glass desperately searching for what fits where and your spirit is being eaten by worms with great white bloodied teeth and your heart has shriveled into a black prune churning your intestines to the point where dysentery feels attractive," he wrote. 

He continued: "And you can't remember anything you did so you roll out of bed over last night's urine and you dial your best friend's phone number because you recall him lifting you over his head, your whole self, before you hit and broke through the drywall and, you think, a large aquarium and the phone on the other end rings and he picks it up, that clambering for a phone, the clumsiness of a hardline, and you say: 'What did I do last night?!' and he answers, after a great pause: '…Dude…'. #5years."

In 2021, he celebrated his sobriety by posting a photo of his younger self, accompanied by a lengthy caption.

"Sobriety is finally loving without every thought being about how it affects only you," he said in part. "Sobriety is a moment of being able to love and be consumed by the glee it brings someone else. Sobriety is knowing the difference between selfishness and integrity."

In his 2024 memoir "From Under the Truck," Brolin said that he hit rock bottom when he visited his sickly 99-year-old grandmother while intoxicated. 

"I knew that was going to be the last time I drank," he wrote. 

"I love being sober," Brolin added. "I have more fun. There's nothing that I go through that I am absolutely certain wouldn't be worse if I was drinking."

Rob Delaney
Rob Delaney in June 2022.
Rob Delaney in June 2022.

Guy Smallman/Getty Images

"It's almost two decades," Delaney shared on Instagram in February 2022. "And I'm shocked and overwhelmed and grateful."

"Twenty years ago I was in jail in a wheelchair and now I'm on a couch, with a lovely quilt, and my life is unrecognizable," he said. 

"I got a lot of help from a lot of wonderful people," the actor added. "I started doing volunteer work after I'd been sober for a while, and through that I met my wife 18 years ago, and we've had so many children together. And I had the courage to pursue the career that I really wanted to."

Delaney lost his two-year-old son Henry in 2018 and credited his sobriety with helping him experience grief. 

"Sobriety allowed me to be a reasonably good dad, husband, and worker through it all," he said on X in 2019, when he celebrated 17 years. "Sobriety allows me to grieve fully, and grief is an expression of love." 

John Stamos
John Stamos in May 2023.
John Stamos in May 2023.

Matt Winkelmeyer/GA/The Hollywood Reporter via Getty Images

The actor spoke about his sobriety while presenting "Full House" costar Jodie Sweetin with the Writers In Treatment's Experience, Strength and Hope Award for her advocacy work for people in recovery. 

"It took me a long time, a long time disappointing everyone who cared about me, culminating in a terrible DUI where I could have killed somebody," Stamos said. "I hit rock bottom."

He continued: "Jodie lovingly allowed me to walk my own path and when I finally humbled myself to ask for your help, I realized that the perky little blabbermouth had become the master of wisdom and was right by my side during some of the most difficult days of my life." 

Elton John
Elton John performing in June 2023.
Elton John performing in June 2023.

Jim Dyson/Redferns

In a 2019 Instagram post, John wrote that "29 years ago today, I was a broken man. I finally summoned up the courage to say 3 words that would change my life: 'I need help.'" 

"Thank you to all the selfless people who have helped me on my journey through sobriety," he said. "I am eternally grateful."

John reflected on his addiction in a 2019 interview with Variety, saying that he "had reached the lowest ebb in my life — the absolute bottom."

"I hated myself so much," he said. "I was consumed with shame. All I wanted to do was get well. I put all of the energy I had left toward my recovery."

Kit Harington
Kit Harington in August 2024.
Kit Harington in August 2024.

Evan Agostini/Invision/AP

In an interview with GQ Hype, Kit Harington said that pre-sobriety, it was "physically and emotionally impossible for me not to drink again," and he's "lucky" he got clean before parenthood. (Harington shares a son and a daughter with his wife and "Game of Thrones" costar Rose Leslie.)

"The very fact that I can be proud of it is an achievement," he said, explaining that he used to be self-loathing and despise himself. "So the fact that I am proud of getting sober is in and of itself a mark of being an entirely different person."

Harington added that his sobriety has positively affected his work life, too.

"And now, every set I step onto, whatever work I do, I'm proud of, because I know I put everything into it," he said. "Whereas before I had this huge monkey on my back that was just, like, weighing me down. So yeah, the whole nature of being proud of myself is a relatively new prospect for me."

Flavor Flav
Flava Flav in February 2023.
Flava Flav in February 2023.

Matt York/AP

On World Mental Health Day in October, Flavor Flav, whose real name is William Jonathan Drayton Jr., shared an Instagram post days ahead of celebrating four years of sobriety.

"My mental health is an important part of my sobriety journey," he said.

The musician said that he speaks to two therapists: a real one and an AI therapist, whom he uses between his hectic schedule and work travels.

In April, Flavor Flav reportedly revealed via his Instagram Story that he "briefly relapsed."

"I say this to admit my mistake and publicly hold myself accountable. I am a human being who makes mistakes and it doesn't make me a bad person. I hope those who are around me support my choice to be sober."

"I went back to Day 1, again, the rapper reportedly added. "Time didn't stop, my journey continues."

Anthony Hopkins
Anthony Hopkins in March 2022.
Anthony Hopkins in March 2022.

Evan Agostini/Invision/AP

Days before turning 87 in late December, Hopkins shared an encouraging message about his sobriety and the moment he had a wake-up call.

"I was having such fun," Hopkins said in a video shared on Instagram. "But then I realized I was in big, big trouble because I couldn't remember anything and I was driving a car drunk out of my skull."

"Then on that fatal day, I realized I needed help. So I got it," he added. "I phoned up a group of people like me — alcoholic. And that was it. Sober. I've had more fun these 49 years than ever."

 

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Meet Miranda McWhorter, the new 'Mormon Wives' cast member whose ties to Taylor Frankie Paul could fracture the group

15 May 2025 at 21:45
A still of "The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives" showing a blond woman in a pale green top.
Miranda McWhorter joins "The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives" in season two.

Fred Hayes/Disney

  • Miranda McWhorter joins season two of Hulu's "The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives."
  • Miranda and her then-husband, Chase McWhorter, were involved in the 2022 "soft swinging" scandal.
  • Miranda appears on the show to clarify her role in the scandal and reconnect with MomTok.

One of the original MomTok members is entering the fray in season two of "The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives."

Hulu's reality TV show about eight Mormon mom influencers debuted in September 2024 and quickly became the most-watched unscripted season premiere on the streamer that year.

The concept for the show had its roots on TikTok, where influencer Taylor Frankie Paul confessed in 2022 that she and her then-husband, Tate Paul, were divorcing after "soft swinging" within their friend group got messy.

Most of the "Mormon Wives" cast members denied being involved in the viral scandal, but another key player was missing from the reality TV series: Miranda McWhorter, 26, Taylor's former best friend.

After sitting out season one, Miranda is ready to clear the air in season two, now streaming on Hulu.

"Taylor's a very vocal person and everybody has heard her side of the scandal. But I'm finally here to tell mine," Miranda says in the season two premiere.

Here's everything to know about her.

Miranda McWhorter shares 2 kids with her ex-husband, Chase McWhorter

Miranda and Chase met after she graduated from high school. They married in 2017 and welcomed their first child, a son named Brooks Wesley McWhorter, two years later. Their second child, a daughter named Cohen Roo McWhorter, was born in 2021.

Miranda and Chase revealed in 2024 that they had divorced after seven years of marriage.

In August of that year, during an appearance on Josie Van Dyke's podcast, "Weekly Trash," Miranda said that her and Chase's reasons for splitting stemmed from issues that arose prior to the swinging scandal.

"That might have not helped for sure, but it definitely did not play a part in the decision-making process," she said.

Chase, for his part, told Us Weekly that they got married "a little prematurely" but continue to be cordial coparents.

Miranda and Chase initially denied their involvement in the 'soft swinging' scandal

A headshot of "The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives" star Miranda McWhorter.
"The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives" season two star Miranda McWhorter.

Pamela Littky/Disney

Chase eventually detailed his connection to the incident two years after the scandal, during his 2024 interview with Us Weekly.

Chase said that the parties where swinging took place began during COVID-19. He said that couples they were friends with would hang out, "get trashed on alcohol," and play games like spin the bottle.

Chase said that he and Miranda participated in some of the games, but "it was never predetermined that we were going to be doing, like, swinging."

"That's what we always thought was a little bit misrepresented in Taylor's story, as she presents it," he said.

Miranda and Taylor hash out what constitutes 'swinging' in season 2

"The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives" stars Taylor Frankie Paul and Miranda McWhorter during season two.
"The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives" stars Taylor Frankie Paul and Miranda McWhorter during season two.

Natalie Cass/Disney

Miranda's unexpected appearance at an influencer event that the start of the season surprises Taylor and the other women because she left MomTok after the scandal exploded.

Now single and at a different point in her life, Miranda says she hopes to repair her friendships and perhaps rejoin MomTok. But her version of the scandal contradicts Taylor's claims, leading to confusion. Plus, some of the women suspect Miranda may want to rejoin the group to take advantage of the lucrative brand deals that come with MomTok fame.

"The height of what I was ever involved in was playing spin the bottle and kissing other people," Miranda tells them. "And so it was very jarring for me for Taylor to come out and say everyone was hooking up with everyone, because that was simply not the case at all."

"No one had sex ever, period." Miranda says, adding, "I will go to my grave."

"The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives" stars Miranda, Whitney, Layla, and Mikayla during season two.
"The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives" stars Miranda, Whitney, Layla, and Mikayla during season two.

Natalie Cass/Disney

In episode two, Miranda says that she lied about not being part of the swinging controversy because she wasn't ready to own up to her actions.

In the following episode, Miranda and Taylor discuss the specifics of what actually occurred in a one-on-one conversation.

While Miranda insists that she only went as far as kissing other people, Taylor says in the confessional that it was more complicated than that.

According to Taylor, they participated in other things too, like the couples having sex in the same bed at the same time. Other times, she said they were blindfolded and tried to guess which husband they were kissing. Taylor also recalls a night when she and Miranda got so drunk that they made out while people filmed it.

In a confessional, Miranda says that a lot of embarrassing things happened, and she felt out of control and wronged when Taylor spoke out on TikTok.

"I wish that I would have come out with what really happened rather than denying everything," Miranda says. "That probably did make her feel worse and look worse, and that wasn't my intention. It was very much, 'I'm terrified and I have a reputation as a Mormon to uphold.' And I regret that."

Miranda seems to be on friendly terms with the MomTokers

"The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives" season two cast members Layla Taylor, Miranda McWhorter, Jessi Ngatikaura, Mikayla Matthews, Mayci Neeley, Taylor Frankie Paul, Jen Affleck, Whitney Leavitt, and Demi Engemann.
Season two stars Layla Taylor, Miranda McWhorter, Jessi Ngatikaura, Mikayla Matthews, Mayci Neeley, Taylor Frankie Paul, Jen Affleck, Whitney Leavitt, and Demi Engemann.

Stewart Cook/Disney

Nowadays, Miranda's social media presence includes sponsored content and videos about single life.

In the lead-up to the season two premiere, she's has been posting videos that include some of the MomTokers. Members of the group have also been commenting on her TikTok videos.

In April, MomToker and fellow cast member Layla Taylor joined Miranda and her friends at the country music festival Stagecoach. That month, Miranda also posted a TikTok featuring Taylor, Layla, Mayci Neeley, Mikayla Matthews, and Jessi Ngatikaura.

In response to a video Miranda posted about having fears about being a single mom, Taylor commented, "Right there with you mama."

Most recently, Miranda posted a TikTok with Taylor, making fun of her "bestie" for outing her for being a "swinger."

"i love that i can self deprecate over this now actually lmao @Taylor Paul #momtok #slomw #secretlives," she captioned the video.

All 10 episodes of season two of "The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives" are now streaming on Hulu.

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What to know about Cassie's life now, as she testifies against Sean 'Diddy' Combs in his criminal trial

Actor Cassie Ventura attends the Clive Davis and Recording Academy Pre-GRAMMY Gala and GRAMMY Salute to Industry Icons Honoring Jay-Z on January 27, 2018
Cassie.

Nicholas Hunt/Getty Images

Cassie burst onto the music scene in 2006 with an irresistible blend of pop and R&B.

Although the singer, whose legal name is Casandra Ventura, withdrew from the spotlight in the ensuing years, she's still beloved by fans of 2000s club jams.

In 2023, she filed a lawsuit against Sean "Diddy" Combs, alleging abuse throughout their relationship, including rape. An attorney for Combs denied the allegations to Business Insider. Cassie is now a key accuser in Combs' criminal sex-trafficking and racketeering trial, which began on May 12.

Here's everything to know about Cassie's career, her connection to Diddy, and what her life is like today.

Cassie broke out with the club hit 'Me & U'

Before launching her music career, Cassie had done some modeling for brands like Delia's.

In 2006, when she was 19 years old, she released her debut single "Me & U." It became her first hit, reaching No. 1 on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and No. 3 on the Hot 100.

"Me & U" set the tone for her self-titled debut album, which was praised by critics for its "hypnotic groove" and "flippant playfulness." Rolling Stone later described the album as "the most brilliantly minimalist R&B album of its era."

In a positive review for Slant, Sal Cinquemani also said, "'Me & U' has single-handedly revived his ailing Bad Boy imprint," referring to Combs, then known as Diddy.

Cassie signed to Bad Boy Records in 2006

Cassie Ventura in 2012.
Cassie Ventura in 2012.

John Shearer/Invision/AP

An archived feature from 2008 said that Combs heard "Me & U" in a club and felt inspired to help Cassie's career.

Combs teamed up with Ryan Leslie, who wrote and produced the song, to record Cassie's album.

In 2008, she announced her plans to release her sophomore album.

"I guess I grew up a lot but I'm still in essence the same person," Cassie, then 21, told Billboard. "Lots has changed in my life, stuff that has made me think about things differently. I'm more vulnerable and you can hear my vocals better this time around. There's real emotion and a much realer connection with my fans."

At the time, Combs praised Cassie's musical development, which he said was reflected in the album.

"We pulled out, we took our time, we developed her for like, a year-and-a-half," he told Billboard in a 2008 interview. "People are just going to see her there and be like, 'Wow, she's really cocooned into a butterfly.'"

However, the album was delayed several times. She didn't release new music until 2012, when she surprise-dropped a set of three mixtapes. She continued releasing singles sporadically in the years following.

Cassie has dabbled in acting

Cassie played Sophie in the 2008 film "Step Up 2: The Streets," and has also appeared in "The Perfect Match" and on several episodes of "Empire."

Additionally, she appeared in the 2022 TV movie "Hip Hop Family Christmas Wedding."

Cassie was in a tumultuous relationship with Diddy for over a decade

Cassie Venutra and Sean "Diddy" Combs at the 2015 Met Gala.
Cassie Venutra and Sean "Diddy" Combs at the 2015 Met Gala.

Charles Sykes/Invision/AP

Prior to her lawsuit, gossip news sites reported that Cassie and Combs maintained an on-again, off-again relationship. They reportedly started dating in 2007 and broke up in 2018.

Cassie's 2023 civil lawsuit accused Combs of serious allegations, painting the music mogul as an extremely violent and angry ex-partner.

It details several instances when the music mogul physically and mentally abused Cassie, as well as used intimidation tactics to keep her in the relationship. Combs quickly settled the suit shortly after it was filed.

Combs has been accused of sexual assault, rape, drugging, and other forms of violence in more than 50 civil lawsuits. He was arrested in September following a grand jury indictment and has denied the charges against him and all other allegations of sex abuse.

Combs' criminal sex-trafficking and racketeering trial began on Monday. Cassie, the prosecution's key witness in the case, took the stand on Tuesday and Wednesday to testify against Combs.

Cassie married Alex Fine in 2019 and has three children

Sunny Fine, Alex Fine and Cassie Fine (Ventura) in May 2022.
Alex Fine, Cassie Ventura, and one of their children in May 2022.

Paul Morigi/Getty Images

Following her split from Combs in 2018, Cassie began a relationship with Alex Fine, a professional bull rider, model, and personal trainer.

In June 2019, the singer revealed that she and Fine were expecting their first child together. The couple tied the knot in a small, surprise wedding in September of that year in Malibu, California. Their daughter, Frankie Stone, was born in early December.

Cassie and Fine welcomed their second child, a baby girl named Sunny Cinco, in March 2021.

In February 2025, Cassie revealed that she was pregnant with their third child, a son. While testifying Wednesday, Cassie's stylist, Deonte Nash, said he called Cassie to congratulate her on the birth of the baby, born Tuesday, about two weeks after Cassie testified against Combs.

Additional reporting by Laura Italiano.

Libby Torres contributed to an earlier version of this story.

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'You' star Charlotte Ritchie shares her reaction to Kate's fate, and why she's 'mixed' on the series finale

26 April 2025 at 11:33
Charlotte Ritchie as Kate Lockwood in season five, episode four of "You."
Charlotte Ritchie as Kate Lockwood in season five, episode four of "You."

Netflix

  • "You" star Charlotte Ritchie, who plays Kate Lockwood, spoke to BI about the fifth and final season.
  • Ritchie reacted to Kate's fate and said she was "on the fence" about what should happen to her.
  • The actor also gave her opinion on how Joe's story ends.

Warning: Major spoilers ahead for season five of Netflix's "You."

The final chapter of Netflix's hit series "You" has arrived, and star Charlotte Ritchie is (mostly) thrilled that her character, Kate Lockwood, made it out alive.

The fifth season of "You," released on Thursday, picks up three years after Joe Goldberg (Penn Badgley) and Kate move back to his hometown of New York City at the end of season four. Everything is going well for the now-married power couple, but Joe's dark side can only be suppressed for so long, and once it reemerges and reinvigorates him, their relationship becomes fraught.

Ritchie told Business Insider that Kate has known all along that this is who Joe is — she's just been in denial about it. This season is "a real lesson in accepting the reality of your situation," Ritchie said.

When Kate finally sees clearly, she decides that the only way to stop Joe is to kill him.

"She is genuinely afraid of him and what he can do," Ritchie explained. "I think she just sees how this man consistently gets away with everything, and she's like, 'He has to not exist anymore for us to be safe. There's no system in the world that could keep him from us.'"

Charlotte Ritchie as Kate Lockwood and Penn Badgley as Joe Goldberg in season five, episode five of "You."
Charlotte Ritchie as Kate Lockwood and Penn Badgley as Joe Goldberg in season five, episode five of "You."

Netflix

Kate recruits Joe's season three love interest Marienne Bellamy (Tati Gabrielle) and season four character Nadia (Amy-Leigh Hickman) to help her. This is one way the final season weaves together loose ends from the series and provides closure for other fan-favorite characters.

"What I love about this series is that they really lean into the genre. They really lean into the history of the show," Ritchie said. "I think it does the whole narrative justice."

In one dramatic moment in the penultimate episode, after getting into a physical altercation, Kate and Joe end up on the floor of Mooney's basement as the bookstore goes up in flames.

Resigned and more truthful than ever and thinking they've both reached their end, Joe admits that he killed Kate's dad and murdered Love. Relieved, Kate reveals that she secretly recorded Joe's confession and will be sending it to the authorities.

"You got me," Joe says. "You can die happy."

It's a scene that, like many in the show, finds the humor in unconventional moments.

"I love that that's in there, just Kate and Joe both quite dryly commenting on how absurd it is and how sad that they're both going to die," Ritchie said. "I just think it's a great scene. I think it's really well written."

Charlotte Ritchie as Kate Lockwood and Penn Badgley as Joe Goldberg in season five, episode nine of "You."
Ritchie as Kate and Badgley as Joe in season five, episode nine of "You."

Netflix

Neither Kate nor Joe dies in that moment, and Ritchie has complicated feelings about her character escaping the fire.

"I was so happy because I've grown to really love this character, and I found it was so fun to get to be right in the midst of getting him," Ritchie said. "But I also felt like if there's ever a poetic justice in death, there was some justice in Kate going down with him."

"I really don't believe in people dying because they've done bad things, but in the world of the justice of this show, there's such a redemptive element to Kate's demise that it would've been OK," she added.

With Joe locked up for life in the finale, Ritchie said she's happy that Henry has a consistent and stable parent. But still, Kate's not innocent.

"She's done some pretty dastardly things and she's got herself into scrapes and been responsible for a lot of people's downfalls," Ritche said. "So yeah, I was on the fence as to what should happen to her, but I was obviously really pleased that she comes through."

Charlotte Ritchie as Kate Lockwood in the season five finale of "You."
Ritchie as Kate in the season five finale of "You."

Clifton Prescod/Netflix

"You" co-showrunners Michael Foley and Justin W. Lo previously told BI that they are prepared for fans to have varying reactions to Joe's fate in the finale and their choice to put him behind bars. Ritchie, too, is still grappling with that conclusion.

"I feel so mixed about it," she said.

After multiple seasons of seeing Joe do terrible, gruesome things, she's not sure what ending could adequately bookend his story.

"There is no fate that matches a life like that," Ritchie said. "But I do feel like the isolation is a good punishment for him. The thing is, I just don't get any sense that he's going to reflect or grow. It's not going to be a formative or spiritual experience for him. Broadly, it isn't for people. As far as I can tell, solitary confinement just seems to wear people down, except for some kind of amazing exceptions."

Case in point: in the final scene, Joe reads a creepy fan letter and says that maybe the problem isn't him — perhaps it's society.

"I do find the letter-writing thing quite an interesting twist, and his ability to turn it back onto his admirers and these women who have been asking to be involved with him," Ritchie said. "He'll never accept responsibility."

Penn Badgley as Joe Goldberg in the season five finale of "You."
Badgley as Joe in the season five finale of "You."

Clifton Prescod/Netflix

As the press tour for season five winds down, Ritchie already misses the cast and crew, including her frequent scene partner Badgley.

"I love Penn," Ritchie said. "I think he's such a decent and thoughtful and committed actor. He's such a lovely friend. He's very funny. And he commits to that role in a way that means that when you are working with him, you can do the same."

After seeing Kate go from closed-off and cold to blossoming in the final season, Ritchie is going to miss exploring more sides of her.

"And I'll miss the outrageous scenarios that are constant. Like, the nonstop drama, the daily, different high-octane situations where people are constantly about to extort somebody or about to kill somebody," she said. "That kind of level of high drama, I'll miss."

Season five of "You" is now streaming on Netflix.

Read the original article on Business Insider

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