Jason Wahler hopes new ‘Hills’ will change public perception of him

Jason Wahler is making the most of his second chance in the public eye.

Wahler, 32, will return to MTV when it premieres “The Hills: New Beginnings” on June 24 and is looking forward to being seen in a different way.

“I’m just most excited for people to get to see my authentic self this time,” he recently told Page Six. “I was definitely not who I was 10 or 12 years ago. I’m excited to show what sobriety looks like. I’m excited to show what recovery looks like, and you know for me it was awesome to be able to interact with these guys because, I mean, 10, 12 years ago, I may have physically been there but mentally I wasn’t present.”

“I didn’t get to have a relationship with or get to dive in with anybody and it’s cool to see how close I’ve been able to connect with everybody,” he added. “I never knew at what level I’d be able to build a relationship or a friendship with anybody. And it’s been really fun, I’ve really enjoyed this and I’m really happy to be back and I think that’s the biggest thing.”

Wahler began seeking help for his addiction issues after the first round of “The Hills” wrapped and later credited the show with helping him spiral out of control.

“I loved it. You know, most of my friends were looking for fake IDs, and I was paid to travel the world. It was cool, but it was fun for a while, and then it became a lifestyle, and I couldn’t live without it,” he said in 2015. “It became a way of survival. I couldn’t function without drugs or alcohol. The entertainment side of things definitely added fuel to the fire, but addiction is a disease.”

He later admitted in April 2018 that he had relapsed in his sobriety, saying via Instagram: “My name is Jason and I’m an alcoholic-addict. I have 39 days of sobriety after being active in my addiction for the past three + years; before that, I had four years of sobriety.”

He seems to be doing well today, with his wife, Ashley Slack Wahler, telling us that viewers will see “everything [they’ve] been through and [their] trials and tribulations with his recovery” on the upcoming series.