Jerry O’Connell got hypnotised to quit smoking.
Jerry O’Connell ‘struggled with nicotine for decades’
The 52-year-old actor has not touched a cigarette for “14 years” after he spent “$800” on seeing a hypnotist in 2012.
Appearing on a recent episode of the Work in Progress podcast, Jerry told 43-year-old host Sophia Bush: “I struggled with nicotine for decades, had to get hypnotised. I haven’t had a Ciggy in like 14 years.”
The Stand by Me star was also motivated to stop after his 53-year-old wife, actress Rebecca Romijn, threatened not to touch him for months.
Jerry – who married Rebecca in July 2007 at their ranch in Calabasas, California, three years after they met at a Maxim Hot 100 party in Las Vegas, Nevada – continued: “Also, my wife said she would not touch me if I smoked, and that lasted about two months. And by the way, no contact.
“My wife said, ‘I’m not touching you anymore until you quit smoking.’ And I thought it was a joke. And then after like two weeks, there was no physical contact.
“After about three-and-a-half weeks, you realise it was serious, this was game on. And I was like, ‘I gotta do something.’ And I tried to quit, and I couldn’t quit.”
Explaining what led him to be hypnotised, the Jerry Maguire actor shared: “I knew a girl who had quit smoking, and I called her up, and I said, ‘How did you do it?’
“And she said, ‘I’m gonna give you the number of this lady.’
“And I went to see her, and I had to bring a photo of my children and my wife.
“And I sat down on her recliner, and she put her headphones on me, and there was like spa music. And she was like, ‘I’m gonna count to 10. 10, nine, eight…’ And I fell asleep.”
Jerry – who has 17-year-old twin daughters, Charlie and Dolly, with Rebecca – then feared he had wasted “$800” on the hypnosis session.
The Kangaroo Jack star said: “When I woke up, I had to pay her cash. This was 13, coming up on 14 years ago, I had to pay her $800 cash.
“I woke up, and I was like, ‘That was baloney. What a joke. I can’t believe I just gave some old lady $800. What a waste of money.'”
However, Jerry was relieved that the hypnosis worked.
He said: “I walked to my car, I got in it. I had a pack of Marlboro Mediums. Put the Ciggy in my mouth, brought the lighter up. I wanted it so bad. I couldn’t light it.
“I swear to you. I’ve never been hypnotised for anything else.”
