June 28, 2023
Kevin McHale is reflecting on some of the less-than-glamorous moments from his tenure on Glee, including a time when his castmates Jenna Ushkowitz and Naya Rivera offered him support during an illness.
On the latest episode of the And That's What You REALLY Missed podcast, which McHale co-hosts with Ushkowitz, the actor recounted an incident from 2011 when he was unwell and his two co-stars staged an "intervention" to discourage him from using steroids.
McHale explained that during a flight to England, he was sharing a meal with fellow cast member Cory Monteith when Ushkowitz, who is now 37, and Rivera, who tragically passed away in July 2020 at the age of 33, approached him about his steroid consumption.
“You were all like, 'So, hey, why are you taking these steroids?' I’m like, 'Well, because I’m sick, I’m supposed to take them,'" he recalled. “You were like … 'I think you should stop taking them.’ And I was like, ‘Why?!’”
According to McHale, his co-stars advised him by saying, "You're not sleeping. You're acting crazy. You need to stop taking them." The actor was deeply affected by their words and promptly agreed to discontinue his use of steroids.
He confessed, "I hadn't slept in days. I was losing my mind."
Although Ushkowitz, who portrayed Tina Cohen-Chang in the series, acknowledged that the prescription was initially necessary, McHale expressed his gratitude for having ceased the steroid use.