Ted Williams' Mom: Go Back to Rehab

Ted Williams’ mother says it’s not too late for her newly famous son with the golden voice to return to rehab.

Julia Williams said she was feeling “very sorry” and “very upset,” days after her 53-year-old formerly homeless son from Ohio turned overnight Internet star bailed on treatment for drug and alcohol abuse at a private facility in Texas.

"Certainly I want him to go back,” Williams told People mag. “He needs help."

Williams, 90, said it didn’t come as a shock that her son walked out after less than two weeks in treatment.

"I know he doesn't stick at things for long. Whatever it is, he soon tires of it," she told People. "He thinks he can make it on his own, without rehab. And I'm sure he can't. It's a very sad story."

Until recently, Williams’ story had the makings of a Cinderella tale. The one-time radio announcer who had fallen on hard times shot to fame after a Columbus Dispatch videographer filmed him off showing off his “god-given” voice while panhandling on the side of a road.

Within days of becoming a media star and fielding job offers around the country, Williams had checked into the Origins Recovery Center on the advice of TV shrink Dr. Phil McGraw.

“I believe rehab needs to be very private and very personal,” McGraw said in offering Williams a shot at battling his addictions. “There will be no cameras, there will be no media. It’s just you focused on you. Fair enough?”

But Williams decided to return to Los Angeles after being upset by the lack of “anonymity” at Origins, his manager said earlier this week.

"We didn't like the whole idea of filming inside a rehab facility,” Alfred Battle told E! News, adding that Williams planned to enroll in an outpatient program.

A Williams friend told UPI he was also disturbed by his heavy medication regimen at Origins and more requests for “Dr. Phil” interviews.

In a statement to the E!, McGraw emphasized Williams’ decision to seek treatment was “voluntary.”

"We certainly hope that he continues his commitment to sobriety, and we will continue to help and support him in any way that we can,” McGraw said. “We wish him well."

Selected Reading: People, UPI, LAT, MSNBC

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