Everyone has a guilty pleasure or two, and an extra chocolate bar here and there usually isn’t a big deal. But for one woman, a very different kind of “craving” had the potential to cause serious harm.
TLC’s My Strange Addiction has been satisfying reality-TV curiosity since it first aired in 2010, and it continues to draw attention years later.
Even though the most recent season wrapped up earlier this year, viewers have been revisiting older episodes online, with clips regularly resurfacing and spreading across social platforms.
One segment in particular is getting renewed interest: Heather’s episode. It originally aired in 2014 as part of season five, yet the details are still startling audiences today.
In the episode, Heather—43 at the time—shared that she had developed an addiction to drinking paint.
Heather explained that the behaviour started three years before filming, following the death of her mother.
She recalled that while she was at work, the scent from a paint marker felt “enticing.” After bringing it home, she said, the habit quickly escalated into something she struggled to control.
“As it’s going down your throat it feels very thick and warm, almost like a thicker version of warm milk,” she told cameras while drinking the paint.
“But obviously it’s got that very strong chemical taste to it. Which is perfect to me!” Heather laughed.
The mother of two also described how she tried to hide what she was doing, drinking it privately and away from her children.
Over the course of three years, Heather estimated she went through about one marker a day—adding up to roughly three gallons in total since the addiction began.
Despite continuing the habit, she acknowledged it could be seriously affecting her health.
In one moment shown during the episode, Heather spoke with her best friend about the situation and asked if she would take care of her children if something were to happen to her.
As noted in the programme, paint “contains more than half a dozen lethal chemicals including Xylene.”
The show warned that inhaling substances like this can be extremely dangerous, with potential consequences including seizures, pulmonary bleeding, and even death.
Heather later met with Dr Bazzle, who urged her to stop immediately due to the risks.
“If Heather doesn’t stop drinking the paint, she could suffer from respiratory problems, neurological problems, hearing loss, liver damage, kidney damage, and even death,” the doctor told the cameras.
Heather was then left alarmed when medical testing suggested her kidney function was “a little bit abnormal,” which prompted her to commit to quitting.
“Well, I’m ready to do this, because I will quit. I have to,” she said.
By the end of the episode, TLC informed viewers that Heather had stopped drinking paint and that her kidney function had returned to normal.
As of 2026, there has been no public update regarding Heather’s health or whether she remained paint-free long-term after filming ended.