Jeremy Jackson opens up about ex-wife Loni Willison’s struggles with addiction

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: In a recent interview, former ‘Baywatch’ actor Jeremy Jackson opened up about the devastating collapse of his marriage to Loni Willison, whose harrowing descent into homelessness has taken the headlines since 2018.

Jackson, now 44, described his ex-wife’s battle with addiction and mental illness, revealing his efforts to help her before their relationship ended in turmoil.

Jeremy Jackson discovers the truth about ex-wife Loni Willison’s post-split life

Former ‘Baywatch’ star Jeremy Jackson recently opened up about the heartbreaking reality of his ex-wife Loni Willison’s situation, revealing that he had long assumed she had a good life after their split.

Jackson, now 44, told the Daily Mail she believed Willison was thriving, possibly with the car and money he had taken from her when their relationship ended. However, their assumptions were shattered in 2018 when photos of Loni surfaced, showing her living homeless on the streets of Venice Beach.

“When I saw the photos online that was the first time I realized what had happened,” Jackson explained.

“I was sad because I pictured her out there happy, happy with the car she stole from me and the money she stole from me, living her best life. Then I saw her and I was like, ‘Oh my God.’ I had wanted her and I for a fairy-tale result could not afford to see that she was mad.”

Willison still lives homeless in Venice Beach and, according to Jackson, has consistently turned down offers of assistance. Just a week ago, she was seen refusing help from photographers.

Jeremy Jackson reflects on ex-wife Loni Willison’s struggles

Jackson and Willison were married for two years before a heated altercation in 2014 ended their relationship, culminating in a public call to 911. Jackson, who was deeply in love, spoke candidly about the emotional toll it took to have for him to lose her.

“It looked like someone had died,” he said, explaining how his growing paranoia and mental health struggles made it impossible to get there.

“Losing her was like someone dying, and I tried to get her back and I couldn’t. The woman I was in love with is gone, and who I am mentally now is not who I knew.” Jackson said, speaking for the first time about the events that led to the collapse of his marriage.

Reflecting on their last tumultuous year together, he revealed how he desperately tried to help her as she spiraled into mental illness and addiction. Jackson candidly shared the two-year journey that led him to come to terms with the loss of the woman he describes as the love of his life.

Loni Willison was the “only woman” Jeremy Jackson ever wanted to marry

“I lost the love of my life,” Jackson admitted. “I lost the only woman I ever proposed to, the only woman I ever wanted to marry. I’m 44. I haven’t proposed or wanted to marry anyone else yet. She was my choice , the only choice I ever made and lost.”

Despite their best efforts, including therapy sessions and attending church together, Willison’s behavior became erratic. “She was seeing and hearing things that weren’t there,” he explained. “I tried to save her, but in the end I had to let go.”

“For two years I was in and out of rehabs, crying, grief and loss counseling, writing her goodbye letters, doing deep therapeutic psychiatric work because I lost the love of my life,” she said. Jackson.

Did Jeremy Jackson help Loni Willison?

Jackson, who himself battled addiction, related to Willison’s struggles because of his past with drugs and crime. Best known for playing David Hasselhoff’s son on the hit ’90s series, he’s all too familiar with the devastation wrought by mental illness and addiction.

Jackson devoted himself to helping his wife, who had struggled with mental health issues and addiction. Drawing on the wealth she had amassed from her acting career, Jackson worked hard to provide financial and emotional support, paying off her student debts and offering her the kind of help that extended far beyond money.

That support involved setting her up with a meal plan, covering the cost of laser treatments to remove facial scars and arranging dental work to fix teeth damaged by drug use.

He also helped her become a certified esthetician and used her Hollywood connections to secure work as a fitness model. “All these interviews where they say she was a model, that’s not what she was,” Jackson explained.

The actor claims Loni was stealing behind his back. “He secretly took my name off the cars because we were married,” she said.

It also accuses him of “changing his billing address with the IRS” to try to get loans and tax returns to a different address. He claims it was a sort of “hostile takeover” of his fiancees without him.

Jackson is willing to lend a hand even now and has shared that he is still willing to help her if she asks. “My company InnerG Wellness has alliances with the best sober peers, the best psychiatrists, the best retreats, women’s support, battered women’s shelters, you name it,” she said of her offering.

That said, despite the miserable end of his marriage to Loni, Jackson says it was worth it. “Whatever it takes to get here, I wouldn’t trade it,” he said. “If I changed who I am and what I do and what I have now, I wouldn’t go back and change a thing.”