'I felt defeated': Dog Whisperer Cesar Millan reveals he attempted suicide in 2010 after death of pit bull and divorce
He rose to fame as the Dog Whisperer, able to rehabilitate even the most aggressive of canines.
But Cesar Millan, before his Nat Geo show ended last year, was engulfed in a deep depression.
In February 2010, his go-to pit bull, Daddy, died; a month later, he learned his wife of 16 years planned to divorce him; in May, he attempted suicide.
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At home: Cesar Millan poses with his English Bull Dog George at his Dog Psychology Center in Santa Clarita, California on October 18
'I felt defeated, a big sense of guilt and failure... I was at the lowest level I had ever been emotionally and psychologically,' he wrote in June on his website without mentioning his overdose.
In Cesar Millan: The Real Story, he talks publicly for the first time about the overdose that left him hospitalised and almost took his life.
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He rejected antidepressants, choosing instead to get a grip through his pack dog wisdom and use exercise, discipline and affection to heal. Another pit bull trained by Daddy has taken over Daddy’s duties, though Junior will never take his place.
'Daddy was my Tibet, my Himalaya, my Gouda, my Buddha, my source of calmness,' Millan said.
Finding peace: Cesar says he chose to get a grip through his pack dog wisdom and use exercise, discipline and affection to heal
Leader of the Pack: Cesar's new Nat Geo show will premiere in January
Mentor: Cesar walks down to his horse stables with his dogs at his Dog Psychology Center
The 43-year-old Mexican-born dog handler rose to fame in 2004, when his first TV series, The Dog Whisperer with Cesar Millan, became National Geographic’s top-rated show. Millan grew up in Culiacan, the largest city in the Mexican state of Sinaloa, and worked on his grandfather’s farm in the hopes of becoming the best dog trainer in the world.
At 21, alone and unable to speak English, he crossed the border and lived on the streets for two months before getting a job as a groomer and walker. Jada Pinkett (pre-Will Smith) hired him and got him an English tutor when she learned he wanted to be on TV.
As his popularity grew, his professional and personal lives appeared rosy: he became an author, made appearances in movies and on television, and his wife gave birth to two sons.
Since the end of his marriage, Millan has found a new love in his life also helped, one whom he calls 'the one.'
Animal lover: His new documentary, which airs November 25 on Nat Geo Wild, will launch a global speaking tour
Jahira Dar lives with Millan and his youngest son in Los Angeles, and Millan said he planned to propose soon.
'It’s a surprise,' he joked. 'I am a traditional guy, so I like to do the whole parent thing. I know they are going to say yes, but I like the whole Cinderella story.'
The documentary, which airs November 25 on Nat Geo Wild, will also launch a global speaking tour.
'It’s rare when someone with his level of celebrity is willing to completely open up and share the struggle and hardship it took to find success and happiness,' said Geoff Daniels, executive vice president and general manager of Nat Geo Wild. 'Cesar doesn’t hold anything back, and I’m certain our audience will feel even closer to him for it.
Besides meeting Dar, constant work also helped Millan turn it around, said the trainer, who described himself as a punctual workaholic who delegates chores and seldom cracks a smile.
He runs a rehab complex, the Dog Psychology Center, at a ranch in Santa Clarita, a magazine and a philanthropic foundation, and sells his own line of dog products and instructional CDs and DVDs.
His seventh book, A Short Guide to a Happy Dog, is due out January 1, and Nat Geo Wild will premiere a new show, Leader of the Pack, on January 5. Dog Whisperer ended its run on September 15.
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