Nick Carter Blamed For Sister Death, Calls Paris Hilton the “Worst Person”

In an interview with Dr. Phil on Monday, Sept. 23, 2013, Backstreet Boys lead singer, Nick Carter, revealed that drug abuse and an unhealthy relationship with his family forced him to take the blame for his younger sister’s untimely death.

In the interview, which can be seen in part on Dr. Phil’s YouTube channel, Nick admitted that as the eldest of five children, he was tremendously involved in his siblings’ lives. As a result of taking on such a parental-like role, his family accused him of not doing enough to save his late sister, Leslie, from herself.

Carter says the family grew up in a home life that was “up and down.” His father had a “dominating personality” and was someone who “kind of led by fear,” he said.

Carter’s success in the music industry made him the financial provider for his family, but despite the income, he wished he could have been a better role model for his brothers and sisters.

“I became the father in a lot of ways, due to the fact that I was making more money than my father, ” he said of the pressure. “I love my family. But there comes a point when you really have to ask yourself if you are helping or hurting them.”

Nick admits he always had a troubled relationship with his sister and sadly reveals that he had been forced to distance himself from her in recent months prior to her death both for his own well being and hers, as each fought to overcome their demons.

However, these actions led to his family turning on him, blaming him for Leslie’s death.

Yet, when asked whether he believed this accusation to be true at the time he answered: “I felt it was unfair. Especially with all the things that I have done and still, to this day, continue to do for them.”

This didn’t stop him from feeling some level of guilt though. “There’s definitely a part of me that did blame myself,” he said.

Asked by Dr Phil whether or not he believes Leslie’s overdose was intentional, Nick struggles to answer.

“It’s really hard to… I didn’t know the details that much and she did die in my father’s house,’ he begins. ‘I knew she was using.

“I wanted nothing but the best for my sister. When it happened, I lay on my shower floor for hours, torn, because I wanted to go to her funeral so badly. It was really tough for me.”

Carter also confessed that he missed Leslie’s funeral because of a phone call gone wrong with his father; the conversation about the passing of his sister turned into a dialogue about themselves instead, and he decided to avoid further confrontation by not attending the service.

“Leslie and I had a very hard relationship our whole life. I wanted nothing but the best for my sister. When it happened, I lay on my shower floor for hours, torn, because I wanted to go to her funeral so badly. It was really tough for me… There’s definitely a part of me that did blame myself…”

Carter added his name to to the long list of celebrities who enjoyed a brutal childhood with the publication of his memoir: Facing The Music and Living To Talk About It.

Carter’s book describes his parents’ heavy drinking and includes such eyebrows-up stories as his account of how he had his own first alcoholic drink at age two.

The Backstreet Boy, who later had struggles with alcohol abuse and an addiction to cocaine and prescription drugs, writes that his parents had an apartment above the bar they owned in Jamestown, New York.

“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,” Carter writes.

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

In his book, Carter also Paris HIlton the “worst person in the world” for him.

“Paris was the worst person in the world for me to hook up with,” Carter said of the fast-living socialite in excerpts from his new memoir.

“Facing the Music and Living to Talk About It” is available to purchase in stores or online.