The first timeRyan Lochteappears onCelebrity Big Brotherwill actually be the second time he has been asked to compete on the CBS reality series.
But that was then. And now, Lochte — a few months fresh from successful treatment for alcohol abuse and still in the middle of training for the next Summer Olympics despite a 14-month ban — is ready for America to see a different side of him.
“He’s not how he is in the media,” his agent, Jeff Ostrow, tells PEOPLE. “He’s a great person, laid-back and down to earth.”
“I thought it would be nice for the 10 million people that regularly watch the show to get to see who Ryan is,” he says.
“People who want to see Ryan — what they think, he’s a party animal, crazy person, that’s not what they’re going to see and that’s not what Ryan is,” Ostrow continues. “And, in fact, he made a commitment to change his lifestyle a little bit and sought a little bit of help for alcohol and he doesn’t party like that.”
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In October, Lochte underwent treatmentfor a years-long alcohol addictionafter police were reportedly called to an incident at his hotel in California.
Ostrow, his agent, says now that the outpatient treatment lasted about a month and “went very well.”
“It was something that he voluntarily wanted to do even though many professionals would suggest that he didn’t necessarily need to,” he says of Lochte. “He needed to kind of take control over himself and his decisions better.”
“They’re super excited, they always wanted to have two children,” Ostrow says.
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After all the ups and downs, Lochte is now set to join a housewith 11 other celebrities from various fields(including former White House officialAnthony ScaramucciandLindsay Lohan’s mom) to compete for $250,000.
“Ryan always goes into everything to win. His mindset is to win,” says Ostrow. ” I think he’s going in there to try and win the game but not at the expense of making himself look foolish or doing things that are contrary to the type of person that Ryan is.”
One thing Lochte won’t stop doing is training. There will be a pool at theBig Brotherhouse just for that purpose.
While he has brushed up a bit on the series, “He didn’t want to over think the process too much in terms of strategy,” Ostrow says.
“You’re thrown into that experiment,” Ostrow says, adding, “My advice [to Lochte] is, ‘Go in and be yourself, obviously be mindful that unlike the rest of our life they’re going to watch everything you do. Just be you’ — and I know he’ll be fine if he’s him.”
Celebrity Big Brotherpremieres Monday (8 p.m. ET) on CBS.
source: people.com
