Kit Harington reveals why he entered rehab ahead of Game of Thrones finale

After a high-profile rehab stint ahead of the Game of Thrones finale, Kit Harington has opened up about the reason behind his mental struggles.

As fanfare around Game of Thrones was at fever-pitch ahead of its finale, Kit Harington was suffering a mental health battle which saw him enter rehab.

The 34-year-old British actor went to Connecticut rehab Privé-Swiss for stress and alcohol issues just before the show’s globally anticipated finale aired in May 2019.

His rehab stint came soon after he made headlines for being kicked out of a New York bar for being intoxicated, with videos and photos of a stumbling Harington surfacing in the media.

In a new interview with SiriusXM’s The Jess Cagle Show, Harington has revealed why he felt the need to get help at the time, saying it had a lot to do with exhaustion after eight years portraying Jon Snow on the HBO fantasy series.

“I went through some mental health difficulties after Thrones, and during the end of Thrones, to be honest,” Harington said.

“And I think it was directly to do with the nature of the show and what I’ve been doing for years.

“I think I took a sort of break after Thrones where I said, ‘I don’t want to work for a year. I want to really kind of concentrate on myself,’” he said. “I’m really happy I did that.”

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Kit Harington has revealed why he needed to enter rehab.

Harington said he realised he was ready to return to acting when the pandemic hit early last year.

“Coming back to work and deciding what to take and what to choose, you know, you couldn’t predict the pandemic, so just when I was wanting to come back to work, the pandemic hit, so I was like, ‘Ugh, for God’s sake,’” he said.

When the pandemic settled and productions were able to continue in a Covid-safe manner, Harington took up a romantic role in Amazon Prime’s Modern Love, which drops on August 13.

Harington features in one episode in the second season, which follows eight different love stories.

He said the lighthearted nature of the show helped him heal.

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Harington said the ‘nature’ of Game of Thrones contributed to his mental health battle. Picture: Helen Sloan/HBO

“Doing this Modern Love episode, it was a bit like, you don’t have to live in that intense place all the time, why don’t you do something that takes the weight off, why don’t you do something fun?

“And I think that was part of my thinking on this.”

There was another good thing to come out of the pandemic for Harington, who welcomed a baby boy with his wife and on-screen GoT love interest, Rose Leslie.

While the couple are yet to reveal their son’s name, they were pictured with him for the first time in February this year.

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Rose Leslie and husband Kit Harington. Picture: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images

“What we were gifted with this was forced time together. And because of that, we ended up having a baby,” he said.

“That’s the major thing that came out of the pandemic for me was becoming a father. I had a quite profound and amazing experience during this last year-and-a-half.”