Backstreet Boy Nick Carter had first drink at age 2

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Former drug and alcohol addict Nick Carter has revealed he had his first drink at the age of two.

In his autobiography Facing the Music and Living to Talk About It, the former Backstreet Boy member blamed his troubled childhood in a dysfunctional family for his addiction.

“Family legend has it that when I was two years old, I crawled into one of the Yankee Rebel’s liquor storage rooms where I was caught drinking for the first time,” he writes, according to Radar Online.

“My parents always laughed at that. I laughed too, for a while, and then I didn’t laugh at it any more.”

Carter said alcohol was a constant presence in his home.

“My parents always stressed about money, which is another reason they turned to alcohol so much,” he said.

“I’m shocked to see home movies taken when I was nine and ten; in them, I’m pretending to be drinking. Clearly, I’m mimicking my parents.”

He says his drinking escalated as he hit his teens, before moving onto hardcore drugs at 18 when he’d found fame in the Backstreet Boys. His band mates, he says, were powerless to curb his behavior.

“[They] saw me drinking and getting into trouble and all they could do was shake their heads,” he said.

“They told me that I had the potential to be a better person and make more of my talents. They knew I had a good heart and soul and wasn’t using my head. The guys warned me many times that my partying was out of control and that I was headed for serious trouble.”

Carter, 33, said after a long struggle, he’s now committed to a healthier lifestyle.

“I’m not perfect now. I still slip up when it comes to drinking. But I’m alive and great things have happened for me in the last few years. I would have missed them. I’m glad I didn’t.

“Take care of yourself so you’ll be present for the great things in your life too.”

This article originally appeared on News.com.au