I’d never have found love & had a baby if I hadn’t move to Dubai… my wild child days are in the past, says Lindsay Lohan
ACTRESS Lindsay Lohan was once better known for her police mugshots and stints in rehab than her on-screen roles.
But after marrying, becoming a mum and moving 8,000 miles from Hollywood to Dubai, her wild behaviour is firmly in the past.
And as she took to the red carpet in New York last week to promote her Netflix Christmas movie, Our Little Secret, she showed off her incredible transformation — with glowing, youthful skin and an amazing figure in a sheer black dress.
Lindsay has struggled with alcohol and drug abuse, which took a toll on her physical and mental health.
But now the 38-year-old says: “I try to keep a nice, clean diet. That’s a big thing for me. And doing Pilates is a lifesaver, just to keep me active and my mind active.
“I want to put things into my body that keep me feeling great, mentally.”
Despite making an acting comeback, the Mean Girls star is far from ready to return to Hollywood full-time and is happy living in the sunshine with Bader Shammas, her 37-year-old financier husband, and their 16-month-old son, Luai.
Today, she hails Bader for totally “supporting” her, adding: “He’s very intuitive and has a very good understanding of how things are going to work out in the end. He can kind of foresee things.
‘I’m an addict’
“So I like getting his advice on everything and having him be a part of it. I just feel safer.”
Lindsay has swapped drug-fuelled partying in Tinseltown for a healthy lifestyle and early nights inside the privacy of their beachside villa.
Every morning, she works out and then meditates in the shower. For breakfast, she has a smoothie, toast, yoghurt and a cuppa — a favourite drink of hers — with Luai.
She said: “Sometimes, I call it The Truman Show, because it’s the same thing every day.
“But I love it. I really love structure because I don’t think I had that when I was young. Everything was coming so fast and I had so many things happening.
“My only structure was filming and being on set.”
With its strict laws against paparazzi and its zero tolerance on drugs, the United Arab Emirates city offered Lindsay the perfect place to turn her life around.
She said: “In New York, I’m walking on the street and I hear the sound of a click, and I think, ‘Was that paparazzi?’. To never have to worry about that in a place where I live is a startling feeling, in a way.
“I feel like some of my work got overshadowed by paparazzi when I was younger and that’s kind of annoying. I wish that didn’t happen. I feel like that kind of took on a life of its own.
“So that’s why I wanted to disappear.”
However, looking to the future with her family, she added: “We are probably going to start to spend more time here [in the US].
“But as for where the family’s home base will be, we’re not sure yet.”
New Yorker Lindsay was just 12 when she starred in Disney blockbuster The Parent Trap in 1998, and quickly became one of Hollywood’s biggest stars, earning up to £800,000 per movie when she was a teenager.
Roles in 2003’s cult classic Freaky Friday and 2004 hit Confessions Of A Teenage Drama Queen cemented her place as one of the biggest It Girls of the Noughties.
But off-screen, her wild partying started to take over and, before long, her once- glittering career was in tatters.
By 2005 she was seen hopping from club to club with socialite Paris Hilton and actress Nicole Richie, staying out until the early hours.
In January 2007, she entered rehab for the first time and, in May that year she was arrested for drink-driving after losing control of her Mercedes in Beverly Hills.
She went into rehab for a second time and was fitted with an alcohol-monitoring ankle bracelet. But worse was to come.
Just two weeks after leaving the clinic in July, then aged 21, she was arrested and charged with drink-driving again, plus possession of cocaine and driving on a suspended licence.
She later admitted using coke and driving under the influence and got one day’s jail, ten days’ community service and three years’ probation plus a fine.
Lindsay was further ordered to attend an alcohol education programme and went into rehab for the third time.
By her late twenties, she had spent more than 250 days in rehab during six different court-appointed stays and had been behind bars a total of six times.
In 2012, she posed for Playboy and once enjoyed a lesbian relationship with British DJ Samantha Ronson.
By 2013, she finally admitted to talk show host Oprah Winfrey: “I’m an addict.’”
She claims it was a knock-on effect of being controlled by studios and constantly saying “yes” to their every demand.
Lindsay told Allure magazine: “They teach you to say ‘yes’ to everything, and that’s not really what life’s all about.
‘New kind of love’
“I remember this so specifically — I had to go to the dentist. I had no time to go to the dentist, but something happened with my tooth. The dentist had to come to see me. It was just so much all the time.”
At 28, she decided to take matters into her own hands and moved as far away as possible from the temptations of Hollywood.
In Dubai, she met Kuwait-born millionaire Bader, and had Luai, whose Arabic name means shield or protector.
Lindsay says she feared she would never have found love if she had not made the fresh start.
She said: “I was like, ‘What if I never fall in love? What if this never happens?’.
“And it took me just taking time for me for all those doors to open and the ‘yeses’ to come — things I wanted to say ‘yes’ to.”
On becoming a mum, she added: “It’s a whole new different kind of love you thought you could never experience. I’m so grateful for every moment of it, just every second.
“Every morning, waking up and running to grab my son and just looking at him, and when he looks me back in the eyes, it’s just beautiful.
You look so beautiful postpartum. Give yourself time
Lindsay Lohan
“I always just want to be with my family. And I feel like, as you get older, less is more.”
Lindsay even credits her son for helping repair her relationship with her own body as she refused to rush into getting back in shape after his birth.
In another interview, she said: “Everyone’s getting so thin now. I was so attached to Luai that my last thought was going on a treadmill.
“I feel like we put so much pressure on ourselves to have to look ‘good’ so soon, but you look so beautiful postpartum. Give yourself time.”
On Wednesday, Lindsay’s festive film, in which she stars alongside Kristin Chenoweth and Ian Harding, is released on Netflix.
She plays Avery, who is horrified to discover she must spend Christmas under the same roof as her ex because their current partners are siblings.
Like a family
Lindsay, who also starred in the hit Netflix movie Falling For Christmas in 2022, said of her latest role: “I had a great time filming it.
“We filmed in Atlanta. The crew and everyone that was part of the film was just such a joy to work with.
I always just want to be with my family. And I feel like, as you get older, less is more
Lindsay Lohan
“They were so kind, and it was a really wonderful experience. I hope that shows in the movie.
“It becomes like a family there and I feel lucky to have that.”
She added: “I had a scene where I was crying, and then my husband surprised me with the baby on set, so then I was crying again — happy tears.”
As Lindsay enjoys a quieter life away from Los Angeles, she reveals she would have this message for her younger self: “Everything happens the way it’s meant to.
“And to never stop loving yourself. You always have to love yourself. I think that’s a really important thing. And don’t be hard on yourself.”