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‘The Bold and the Beautiful’s’ Sean Kanan Marks Five Years Sober With Hope-Filled Message
Sean Kanan marks five years of sobriety and shares a heartfelt message of hope on Instagram for those battling addiction and the cycle of alcoholism.
The Bold and the Beautiful star Sean Kanan is celebrating an incredible life milestone, as he just marked five years of sobriety. Now, he is using his celebrity to share words of hope with others via an inspiring Instagram video.
Sean Kanan Aims to Help Others
Kanan, who first came to fame in 1989 as Mike Barnes in The Karate Kid Part III, opened up about his struggle with alcoholism in an interview with People in 2024. He credited his wife, Michele, with motivating him to make a change.
“She said to me at one point, ‘I have put my heart and everything into this relationship. Please tell me that I didn’t back the wrong horse,'” he said. “I had been trying for a very long time to get sober, and I had intermittent periods of success followed by fairly catastrophic setbacks, let’s say. But when I heard that, I don’t know. The skies parted,” he continues. “It set something in motion that was different than everything before.”
In his Instagram video, Kanan stressed that he did not want an inbox full of accolades for reaching this milestone. He just wanted to offer words of hope to anyone who might be struggling.
“Five years ago today was the last time that I’ve ever taken a drink of alcohol,” Kanan started the video. “I’m putting this message out there for the people that are still struggling, for the people that think that they’re just never going to get it and that they can’t break out of the soul-crushing cycle of addiction.”
Kanan, whose longtime B&B character, Deacon, and former General Hospital character, AJ, have also struggled with alcoholism, went on to explain that he understood what some people might be going through, admitting that he had tried to become sober multiple times in the past.
“My consequences got more and more severe and for the grace of God I finally got it,” he continued. “And my life has changed in magical and incredible ways through these last five years that I could have only dreamt of. I just want to say that if you’re struggling, you’re not alone. Don’t isolate, don’t give up, keep trying. Not everyone gets it the first time. God knows I didn’t, but there is a wonderful, wonderful life waiting for you on the other side.”
