Mackenzie Phillips Reflects on Cocaine-Fueled ‘One Day at a Time’ Years, Lifelong Bond With Valerie Bertinelli

Mackenzie Phillips is revisiting her “One Day at a Time” years with brutal honesty and unexpected humor. The actress, now 66, is reflecting on a chapter defined by fame, friendship, and a dangerous flirtation with excess that shaped much of her early adulthood, as reported by Page Six.

Speaking with Fox News Digital, the former child star shared vivid memories from the show’s heyday. She recalled, “Oh, I don’t know. Oh, okay. So this might surprise you that during lunch break, Valerie and I would drive to my house, get in the pool, drink wine, and snort coke.”

Phillips quickly clarified that her co-star, Valerie Bertinelli, has previously been open about that experience as well. “But Valerie talks about it openly, so it’s not like I’m pulling her covers or anything,” she said. “The thing was that I was the, you know, Valerie didn’t have the kind of addiction that I had, she didn’t have addiction.”

Drugs were a part of life behind the scenes, Phillips admitted. “And you know, so we would do coke together in the dressing room and stuff,” she said. “I just happened to be the one that got caught. And thank God I got caught, you know?”

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The show, which aired on CBS from 1975 to 1984, made both Phillips and Bertinelli household names as teenage sisters Julie and Barbara Cooper. While they faced the pressures of Hollywood fame, their friendship endured well beyond their sitcom years.

In a 2022 appearance on the “Behind the Velvet Rope” podcast, Phillips reflected on that lifelong connection. “We were teenagers, and now we’re women of a certain age, and we loved each other,” she said. “We loved the people that we worked with. We were a family.”

That closeness, however, faced challenges during Phillips’ years of addiction. “You know, and that I guess, you know, that we certainly had our years where I was, you know, out of my mind and Valerie was like okay,” she shared.

She recalled moments of reaching out to Bertinelli while rebuilding her sobriety. “There were times where, you know, I would drive over Coldwater Canyon and I would know where Val and Ed lived, and I would just call and leave her a voicemail and say I just drove past the house I want you to know I’m six months sober, I just drove past the house I want you to know I’m a year sober,” Phillips said.

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Though she did not expect a response, those quiet gestures eventually reopened their bond. “It was like I was patient because I know I had a lot of repair to do,” Phillips explained. “And I said you don’t have to call me back I just want you to know I’m thinking of you and I love you, and one day the phone rang.”

Their friendship continues to be meaningful. In April 2025, Phillips celebrated Bertinelli’s 65th birthday with a heartfelt Instagram post, writing, “Happy Birthday, Val! Now we’re both 65. I love you. ❤️ #sisters #odaat #soberaf #family #medicare .”

These days, Phillips speaks about her past without letting it define her. She credits faith and perspective for keeping her grounded. “What keeps me grounded is my faith and just knowing that how strong and powerful, empowered my history has made me,” she said.

She rejects pity, insisting that her hardships have shaped her resilience. “Someone was just saying, oh my God, I feel so sorry for everything you went through,” Phillips recalled. “And I was like, don’t feel sorry for me because everything I went through, even though it was horrible and difficult, made me the woman I am today.”

Her understanding of her past continues to evolve. Reflecting on her father, John Phillips, she said she now recognizes the manipulation she once misunderstood. “When I realize now, because I’ve been drugged and groomed, that there is no consent between a parent and a child, because the power differential is so different,” she said.

Phillips works today to support others battling addiction, including in her role at Breathe Life Healing Centers. “Purpose is key for me. I have a really strong passion and purpose now. I show up. I’m a really good employee. I’m a hard worker,” she told UCHealth Today.

For Phillips, resilience remains the final word on her story. “I have a high, high resilience,” she said. “You know, the love of my son, my family, my sisters, even though that relationship was very difficult for a long time, I just believe, I have a strong faith, and I mean, I had no choice. Be resilient or die.”

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