Matthew Perry was 'still thinking about taking drugs' despite sobriety

LOS ANGELES: Late star Matthew Perry's ex-girlfriend said he "always had major drug problems."

Perry, who battled addiction to alcohol and drugs for a number of years, was found dead in his hot tub towards the end of October at the age of 54.

His former flame Kayti Edwards has alleged that when they were together, his addiction was always on his mind even after he had got clean as she recalled some of the drastic things she had done to help him.

"I was at Matthew's place in the Hollywood Hills. He was in a bad way. He had been getting high all night on a plethora of drugs, most likely crack cocaine and other substances," she told The Sun on Sunday, reports aceshowbiz.com,

"I found Matthew on the couch with his hands superglued to his legs - it was desperately sad. I had to use nail polish remover and olive oil to free him. We were literally ripping the hair from his legs and he had red, raw patches left behind, it was pretty horrific. Matthew always had major drug problems. Even when he was clean and going through rehab, he was still thinking about taking drugs."

Kayti previously claimed that even though it was thought that Matthew had drowned in his hot tub, she remained uncertain that that was the full story.

She said: "There are a lot of things that aren't adding up for me. I don't believe he just drowned in his Jacuzzi, that doesn't sound right. I know Matthew and I know that he wouldn't have just drowned. I think he might have taken pills in the week leading up to this."

"They said there were no prescription painkillers at the scene, which doesn't surprise me, because he didn't leave drugs lying around. He was paranoid and would take them all, so there wasn't any evidence, and then go out for more when he was ready to."

According to police, no drugs were found at the scene or any evidence of foul play, but Kayti felt suspicious when she saw what became his last social media post.

Just days before the tragedy, the '17 Again' star had referred to himself as 'Mattman' - an alter ego he developed based on his obsession with Batman - and Kayti alleged that this character would only come out when Matthew was intoxicated.

She said: "That Mattman thing was not something he did when he was sober. Mattman would come out when he was not sober and he felt kind of invincible. I was around when he was getting high, although I was not getting high with him, and when I would say maybe he should cool it a little bit with the drugs, he would say, 'No, I'm Mattman'."

Kayti, who dated Matthew in the late 2000s but remained in touch with him and last spoke to him shortly before he released his memoir 'Friends, Lovers And The Big Terrible Thing' in November 2022 - also claimed that the TV star always yearned to be in the water when he was high.

She said: "One time, his neighbour in Hollywood Hills found Matthew naked and high in his swimming pool. I had to go over there and get him out of his neighbour's pool. He had a thing with water when he was doing drugs. He always wanted to be in the pool or the Jacuzzi."