The designer opened up about “using substances” in his HGTV special “My Lottery Dream Home: David’s Happy Ending”

David Bromstad revealed that he sought treatment amid filming My Lottery Dream Home: David’s Happy Ending

The special documents how Bromstad’s dream home being nearly destroyed by a storm caused him to spiral

He got candid about “using substances” and opened up about unresolved childhood trauma

My Lottery Dream Home: David’s Happy Ending premiered on HGTV on Dec. 19 at 9 p.m. ET

David Bromstad is getting candid about getting the help he needed when he was in a dark place.

The HGTV star opened up about seeking treatment in the middle of filming My Lottery Dream Home: David’s Happy Ending, after a major set back set him on a bad path.

In an exclusive clip shared with PEOPLE from the episode , Bromstad, 52, spoke about “using substances” while discussing how he coped after a storm all but destroyed his Florida dream home mid-renovation. “I got into some unhealthy behaviors and it’s really easy to go there when you’re under distress,” he shared. “I knew I was in trouble.”

Later in the special, which premiered on Friday, Dec. 19, Bromstad opened up about how his mental well-being had become intertwined with the project. “I think with the house, with where I’m at emotionally, physically, spiritually, psychologically, everything has stopped. I was literally screaming out for help,” he began.

HGTV

David Bromstad in ‘My Lottery Dream Home: David’s Happy Ending’

The house is a fairytale-like creation he designed to help heal some childhood trauma, he explains, revealing he was “super depressed” growing up because he was bullied.

“Back when I was a teenager, I didn’t deal with what really happened,” he explained. “I was exactly this amount of gay, this amount of perfect, but that was not celebrated, that was looked [at] in a different way back then.”

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“I was super depressed. I was super bullied. And so for me to idealize my childhood was a complete defense mechanism that was beautiful; it saved me,” he explains.

“Now my childhood fantasy, my house, is broken, like me,” Bromstad continued. The extreme water damage from rain and flooding caused an extensive mold problem in the half-finished home that required everything to be ripped out down to the studs, essentially setting the project back to square one.

Realizing the seriousness of his situation, Bromstad said, “I decided it’s time. I need to put my house on hold and I need to check myself into some sort of program.”

“I need to talk. I need to climb out of this hole. I need to understand why I climbed into it in the first place,” he added.

After getting the help he needed, Bromstad took a trip to Norway to celebrate his 50th birthday in August 2023. He posted about his journey on Instagram and reflected on the “most unique year” of his life.

“I could not be more grateful for every aspect of my existence. Learning to love myself, warts and all, has been the hardest and most beautiful process.”

He added that celebrating his milestone birthday in Norway was a way to connect with his roots. Bromstad was able to “see how my ancestors lived and the air they breathed.”

“Being here has answered so many questions about why I love the things I do. It was a perfect day hiking, kayaking and communing with nature and all her glory. Thank u for allowing me another trip around the sun.”

Bromstad also mentioned his sobriety in another social media update about the trip. “Feels good to be present, sober and living the life I was intended to live,” he wrote about climbing the 2,000 steps of Reinebringen.