Sum 41's Deryck Whibley: Talking Sobriety After My Near Death Experience | EXCLUSIVE
On The Mend
High Performance
4.9 • 566 Ratings
🗓️ 8 September 2025
⏱️ 54 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Deryck Whibley joins Matt for a powerful and unfiltered conversation about addiction, recovery, and the lessons hidden in life’s hardest moments.
The singer-songwriter opens up about why he chose to write his book entirely in his own words, valuing authenticity over polish, and reflects on the role of memory, mistakes, and vulnerability in personal growth. He also shares openly about his struggles with addiction, the courage it takes to face dependency, and the idea that even injury and adversity can be unexpected gifts.
From the importance of focusing on positivity and taking responsibility for your own happiness, to embracing uncertainty and letting go of old grievances, Deryck’s journey is a reminder that recovery is not just about survival, it’s about renewal, connection, and the courage to face the unknown.
Heights 👉 Join Matt. Whatever you’re mending, Heights has you covered, 20% off all products here: https://highpfrmc.com/otm-combo-au
Need Support?
Samaritans: Call 116 123 or visit samaritans.org
Narcotics Anonymous: na.org
Alcoholics Anonymous: alcoholics-anonymous.org.uk
Mental Health Mates: mentalhealthmates.co.uk
Shout: https: giveusashout.org
IAPT: england.nhs.uk/mental-health/adults/nhs-talking-therapies/
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Want to know who's coming up next? Hit follow wherever you get your podcast and you'll be the first to find out. |
| 0:09.8 | Welcome back to On the Men. This is the podcast where we look back on life's toughest moments to figure out how to move forward. |
| 0:15.0 | And today, on the mend, I have, I mean, I don't really know how much I should say without freaking him out. |
| 0:22.5 | I mean, I'm a massive fan. I'm a huge, I'm going to try and chill it out and not be too full |
| 0:27.4 | on. But, I mean, he's been a massive, massive influence on my life in so many ways. |
| 0:32.1 | Sun 41, the first time I heard Okina Ophila, it absolutely blew my head apart. |
| 0:37.3 | And I'm, obviously, my band my band busted was starting at the time. |
| 0:42.1 | We were so influenced by that album. |
| 0:43.7 | It was such a massive, massive influence on us. |
| 0:46.0 | And I remember like even photo shoots and things. |
| 0:48.5 | Like it was everything about it. |
| 0:51.1 | We just absolutely idolized. |
| 0:53.7 | So I'm going to stop being a fan boy and try |
| 0:56.0 | and chill out. I appreciate that. Thank you. Derek, thanks so much for coming on, mate. Yeah, |
| 1:01.4 | thanks for having me. How are you doing today? I'm good. I'm really good. Who's up next week? |
| 1:05.8 | Follow us to find out. Watch wherever you get your podcasts. Good man. I mean, your studio is, I mean, I'm feeling very inadequate in my little tiny room |
| 1:14.6 | looking at your incredible studio, bro. It's so epic. Where are you right now? |
| 1:20.3 | I'm in Las Vegas. Oh, great. Is that where you live? Yeah. Yeah. Amazing, man. Amazing. |
| 1:26.0 | I went there for the first time in January. I'd never been to Vegas before. Oh, wow. I got told by everybody in my life to never go because I would never return. |
| 1:36.0 | Yeah. It was always that place that scared me, you know. But you live there, dude. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, not like on the Las Vegas stripper. |
| 1:44.6 | Yeah, yeah. |
| 1:47.0 | So, yeah, there's like definitely two parts to Vegas. |
... |
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