Paula Abdul Recalls the Pain that Sent Her Into Hiding  4/22/05

American Idol judge Paula Abdul has spoken out about the crippling pain that ruined her pop career and turned her into a hobbling recluse.

The Straight Up singer was left devastated by tabloid stories about drug abuse and the like, while she was dealing with severe neck and back pain brought on by multiple car crashes and a plane accident.

The singer-turned-TV star has gone public with her story in this week's PEOPLE magazine in America, and insists it was time to fight back at all the mistruths which have been printed about her.

She says, "Through a series of multiple car accidents, where I was hit, and an unfortunate plane crash, I ruptured so many disks, I knew something was going on in my neck.  "I had numbness and tingling. I was in such excruciating pain. I just kept going. That is what dancers do. We go until we can't go anymore. When I had to shut my life down, I shut down."

And when she took time away from the spotlight, Abdul underwent 12 painful surgeries and drastically lost weight, leading many to assume she was abusing drugs.

She adds, "When you are in that much pain, you don't have an appetite."

The singer tells US TV show Entertainment Tonight she underwent her final surgery just before landing her judging gig on American Idol - but she never quite got over the pain.

She adds, "I would be in my dressing room with my friend Daniel. He would constantly be having to reapply my make-up because I would be shivering and having miniature seizures.  "But I want America to know that I have never ever been addicted to anything.  No chemical dependency. I have never taken anything for recreation or for my injuries."