The Chase host Andrew O’Keefe heads back to rehab
TV host Andrew O’Keefe is said to have returned to rehab after suffering a health relapse. The Seven Network personality went through two separate stints in a Sydney clinic in 2019 for what he previously described as “exhaustion”.
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- Andrew O’Keefe on his demons: ‘I wasn’t in good health’
- ‘Exhausted’ O’Keefe takes leave to treat ‘personal issues’
Game show host Andrew O’Keefe is back in rehab following a relapse of the health crisis that forced him to take three months leave from Channel 7’s The Chase last year.
Following two separate stints in a Sydney clinic in 2019 for what he previously described as “exhaustion”, O’Keefe has checked into a facility on Sydney’s northern fringe.
It comes after the Seven Network star — who was due to return to work on the studio floor of Seven’s The Chase in January, pushed back to February by Seven — took a dig at network chiefs on February 12 when he stated during an interview that he was “fit and ready to film”.
This contradicted a statement from Seven to News Corp (publisher of this newspaper) on February 6 when a spokesman said: “Andrew O’Keefe is taking time to manage and recover from a health issue.”
Seven’s spokesman added production of the ratings winning program would be delayed by “months” as a consequence of the host’s ongoing health issues.
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On Saturday, Seven refused to comment on O’Keefe’s present condition and location.
O’Keefe’s Melbourne manager did not return calls.
Executives at Seven are said to be “deeply worried” for their 48-year-old top-rating star who has admitted that “something that verges on mania” runs through the O’Keefe family where it was famously exhibited by his uncle, legendary rock’n’roller Johnny O’Keefe, who died of a drug overdose.
“We all use different methods to escape from the most uncomfortable parts of our existence and I certainly was not using the most healthy ones,” O’Keefe told this newspaper in October of his collapse.