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When YOU found South Africa's Bachelor Lee Thompson living on the streets of Cape Town, his family moved quickly to get him admitted into a rehabilitation centre.
On Saturday, a day after the YOU story broke, Lee was on a plane to Gauteng, where he was admitted to a rehab facility.
A close friend of Lee's, who asked not to be identified, told YOU that the reality TV star's friends and family didn't hesitate for a moment to help Lee when they learned about his dire circumstances.
Lee had been living in a shelter in Cape Town after he'd become homeless. Before that, he'd been renting a room for R300 a night at a guesthouse in Buitenkant Street, Cape Town, for two months.
"He's flown to Gauteng to be booked into a rehabilitation centre. He'll be okay," the friend told YOU.
"Everyone asked him to get help in rehab, and he agreed. I hope it takes, and that this was his rock bottom. There's something good that came out of the article, after all. People can die on the streets."
Lee's friend says this is the second time the Bachelor star has been admitted to this specific rehab facility.
"I'm afraid he doesn't stay long. I'm just glad he's getting help now. And yes, his family is helping too. His mother wasn't aware that things were getting this bad again. Lee is good at hiding things and pretending that everything is okay. He'd told his mother everything was okay, when it wasn't."
When YOU contacted Lee’s mom, Desiree, before the article was published last week, she told YOU that Lee had told her he was fine, but that she and Lee’s brother, Ross, would try to establish his whereabouts.
Before Lee found fame as a heartthrob looking for love, he was a professional rugby player for the Sharks. Thanks to his smouldering good looks, chiselled abs and ripped biceps, he was also a successful model and had his hands full with multiple businesses.
READ MORE| The Bachelor SA's Lee Thompson has gone from TV stardom to a homeless shelter
But he’d always been unlucky in love, which is how he found himself living in a mansion in Sandhurst, Johannesburg, with 24 women vying for his attention in The Bachelor South Africa in 2019.
“I’ve been so focused on business that I completely neglected my love-life,” he said at the time.
“My best friend is married with a kid and so is my brother. Many of my friends are either engaged or have girlfriends. It’s tough when they want to include me in social events. I also want someone to share my life with.”
He thought he’d found his match when he met Joburg makeup artist Gina Myers on the show. Lee proposed to her on a beach in Mauritius in the romantic season 1 finale, but the relationship didn’t last.
“We left Mauritius and I remember the one thing I said to Lee was that I never knew so much happiness could exist, and he agreed and said it’s our time,” Gina said then. “And I think maybe he felt that at some point, but whatever was going through his mind, he wasn’t consistent.”
Gina (33) told YOU recently she hadn’t had contact with Lee for a while now and has no idea of his whereabouts.
When YOU visited the Cape Town homeless shelter where Lee was living, he told the shelter’s manager he didn't want to talk to us.
