DWTS actor speaks about daughter’s death

ABC

Dancing With the Stars actor Master P (real name Percy Miller Sr.) has spoken candidly about his heartache over his daughter’s accidental overdose. His 29-year-old daughter Tytyana died of a drug overdose in late May 2022 after struggling with substance abuse for nearly a decade.

On “CBS Tomorrow”, The rapper opened up about how his family is dealing with Tytyana’s death and what he hopes it will bring:

Master P said it was ‘the worst call a parent can get’

When asked how it happened, he said that he received a call from one of his other children to tell him that Tytyana was dead.

“It was the worst call a parent can get…My condolences to all who have lost a child,” said Master P.

He added: “When I go to my daughter’s funeral, I feel like I went to my own funeral. I don’t want to go to funerals anymore.”

Master P went on to say that they all thought Tytyana was getting better and “on the right track” and of course, like all parents who have lost a child, he struggles with the feeling that he could and should have done more .

“All parents [feels that guilt]. I feel like I could have done more, but you never know. We’ve been going through this for nine years and you’re like, ‘Oh you know what, she’s going to get over it, we’re going to move on and live happily on,'” said the Dancing With the Stars season two contestants.

Master P continued that he asked his other children what he was doing wrong and some of them said he could be a bit controlling.

“I had to look in my own mirror and say that’s true, but I just built parameters to protect, for love, because I know where I’m from and what I’ve been through,” the rapper said. “And when you look at mental illness and substance abuse, it’s serious. It affects everyone – black, white, Asian, Latino, rich, poor.”

“It hurts like family,” he continued, adding, “Anyone watching this — love your loved ones while they’re here because once you walk out that door, you never know who’s going to come back … My daughter still had a lot of life in her and she was a happy woman who knew that tomorrow she could do something better.”

He hopes to help others by speaking out about mental illness and substance abuse

Master P said he swore to “turn around [his] pain into passion” and “turn it into a goal” because he can’t get his daughter back, but maybe he can help others.

“I love her, I think of her every day. Me and my family have had to go through something I can’t, I just can’t stop thinking about it, but I realize I have to get out of here and help other kids and save them,” he said.

Master P’s number one piece of advice for any parent struggling with this situation is to “speak about it” and make no secret of it.

“Talk about it. Don’t keep it a secret. Because when you talk about mental illness and substance abuse, people don’t want to say that this happened to my child, but this affects us as Americans… have no fear [to talk about it]’ said Master P.

He also said his son Romeo Miller, who also participated in “Dancing With the Stars,” is his hero because he sees in Romeo an opportunity “to change the next generation, now.”

Romeo welcomed his own daughter in February 2022. At the time, Master P posted a photo his granddaughter on Instagram and wrote: “Three generations of millers! … nothing but blessings.”

Dancing With the Stars returns to Disney Plus this fall for its 31st season.

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