Denise Richards was "incredibly naive" to Charlie Sheen's addiction when they first met.
Denise Richards was 'naive' to Charlie Sheen's addiction issues
The 52-year-old star - who got engaged to the 'Two And A Half Men' actor in December 2001 and married him seven months later - has explained how he had been "sober for four years" at the time and she never had any concerns he would "relapse".
She told Bethenny Frankel's 'Just B' podcast: "For me, it was no question. I said, ‘No,’ I didn't know that person.
"I only knew who I met. And that was a man who had been sober for four years.
"I didn't judge him for his past because I figured, well, his past made him who he is today.
"And the person that I met was very different from the person that spiraled…”
The 'Real Housewives of Beverly Hills' star - who split from Charlie in 2005 when she was six months pregnant with their daughter Lola - insisted it wasn't "boring" being with someone sober, as she noted she wasn't much of a "partier" herself.
She explained: "I wasn't thinking, ‘Oh, shoot. I just started dating Charlie Sheen and I just read all these crazy stories about him and how come we're not doing [those things]?”
She did reveal how she encouraged Charlie to play Charlie Harper in 'Two and a Half Men', which became one of his most iconic roles, despite his nerves "about starting a new TV show after 'Spin City' got cancelled".
She recalled: "I read the script for ['Two and a half Men'] and said, 'You have to do this show.'
"He was going to do a different show,” she added. “And I read the script and I go, 'You're crazy for not doing this.'"
And she has suggested the success of the show - which he starred in from 2003 to 2011 - had an impact on his sobriety.
She said: "I think because [of] the success of 'Two and a Half Men' and the money, I think that led to him getting back into not being sober."
Denise - who filed for divorce in 2006 - insisted she didn't want to speak for her ex about the impact of the show, but added: "All I know is he was no longer the person that I married and no longer sober."
After getting fired from the show following a series of rants directed at creator Chuck Lorre, Charlie got sober and later admitted it was "awful" looking back at his downfall, and the pair have since made amends.
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