Kendra Wilkinson first took cocaine aged 13, and almost died of an overdose several years later

The former Playboy playmate has revealed her parents` divorce when she was five had a devastating effect on her. She struggled to cope and began to have self-esteem issues, which is why she turned to illegal substances at such a young age.

"All of a sudden they broke out this white stuff. I did it, and I started feeling this big ball of chalk going down my throat and I was like, `What is this! Ewww... this is so gross.` After that I started feeling pretty good. That was the start of my drug days," she revealed on a documentary about her life called E! True Hollywood Story.

Kendra, 24, spent her childhood doing everything her mother Patti told her not to, including skipping school and drinking alcohol. When she was 15, her mother checked her into a "secured psychiatric facility" for two weeks as she was so worried about the drugs she was taking. Kendra also felt suicidal, and admits she used to self-harm. "It was crazy in that place. A lot of those kids were suicidal like me and we didn`t see daylight. We weren`t allowed outside. It was basically a jail, but it was a hospital."

The hospital stay didn`t make Kendra give up her self-destructive ways, and she continued taking drugs "every day, every minute". Through her sophomore year she lived with a boyfriend, and spent the whole time taking illegal substances.

It wasn`t until she took too much cocaine one day that she realised how destructive her life was becoming.

"I was bleeding from every hole in my body and I really thought I was going to die that night," she revealed. "But you know what, I survived, and I swear it was a couple of days after that that I had an epiphany. I just stopped drugs, stopped smoking cigarettes, stopped everything, and went home."

She then began playing sports and got a job, before later moving into the Playboy mansion to live with magazine mogul Hugh Hefner.

Kendra is now happy and healthy, and married to sportsman Hank Baskett. She gave birth to their first son, Hank Jr., in December, but has dismissed reports she is pregnant again. Instead, she claims she is enjoying motherhood and family life.

Kendra loves being with Hank Jr., and has revealed plans to introduce him to his Irish heritage to celebrate St. Patrick`s Day today. "It just so happens to be one of my faaaavorite holidays. I`m Irish and since this is lil Hank?s first St. Patty`s day, i decided to introduce him to his Irish roots by dressing him like a little leprechaun lolol. I got him the CUTEST green outfit with a little top hat and everything haha. I can`t wait to dress him in it! I`ll def have to take pics for you guys (sic)," she wrote on her blog.

sections: Celebrities