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Jason Wahler said his \u201clife changed\u201d instantly after the first Laguna Beach <\/em>commercial aired<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n In a new podcast interview, the former reality star recalled going to a gas station afterward and feeling like \u201cJustin Bieber got out of the car\u201d because of the sudden attention<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n Wahler said the fame became a \u201cfalse sense of reality\u201d that distracted him from mental health and addiction struggles<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n Jason Wahler<\/a> is recalling the exact moment fame hit him \u2014 and according to the former Laguna Beach<\/em> star, it happened before the show\u2019s first episode even aired.<\/p>\n During a recent appearance on the More Life with Carl Radke<\/em><\/a>podcast, Wahler, 39, opened up about how quickly his life changed after MTV released the first commercial promoting Laguna Beach<\/em> in 2004.<\/p>\n At the time, Wahler said he was already privately struggling with mental health issues, legal trouble and an identity crisis as a teenager.<\/p>\n Never miss a story \u2014 sign up for PEOPLE’s <\/strong>free daily newsletter<\/strong><\/a> to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer\u200b\u200b, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.<\/strong><\/p>\n Jason Wahler \u201cImagine everything that I was explaining at 17, 18 \u2014 identity crisis, going to treatment, dealing with the law, mental health issues,\u201d Wahler said. \u201cSo pause there.\u201d<\/p>\n Then came the commercial that launched him into overnight fame.<\/p>\n \u201cThe moment that the commercial airs for Laguna Beach<\/em>, I go down to the gas station in Laguna,\u201d he recalled. \u201cLiterally, a commercial aired. And my life changed.\u201d<\/p>\n He continued: \u201cI mean, it was like, I went down there, and it was like Justin Bieber got out of the car. So it was just crazy, the notoriety that happened from it.\u201d<\/p>\n The reality star explained that the sudden attention became a distraction from the deeper personal struggles he had been avoiding.<\/p>\n \u201cAll that stuff that I wasn\u2019t dealing with was completely pushed to the side,\u201d Wahler admitted. \u201cAnd I was like, I can focus on this, which is like a false sense of reality, a great deflection from everything that I\u2019m going through and I\u2019m gonna lean into this.\u201d<\/p>\n Looking back now, Wahler said the overnight shift still feels surreal because of how abruptly everything changed.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll never forget what that [felt like], because it was just like this very normal life and it was literally like the next morning,\u201d he said. \u201cIt changed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Credit: Amy Tierney\/WireImage<\/i><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n