HEALTHSober Tim Allen 'Made Amends' With His Eldest Daughter After Alcohol Issues Prevented Him From Being There for Her 'Formative Years'
Tim Allen and his daughter repaired their relationship.
June 10 2026, Published 10:57 a.m. ET
From a stint in jail for selling drugs to a DUI, Tim Allen's troubled earlier years took a serious toll on his personal life, but his hardships helped shape the man is he today.
Though he's been sober for two decades, the actor joked he's "still the same lunatic" he's always been.
'I Humiliated Myself'
Tim Allen has been sober for more than 20 years.
"I have a group of guys, we’ve been meeting for over 20 years; it’s all about honesty," he told Us Weekly in a new interview.
"I lost focus after college, where I got into criminal stuff. When I was incarcerated, I started reading books [about] men and women who had been successful out of nowhere, and I started focusing on where I wanted to be," the TV star, 72, spilled. "I did not want to do that ever again. I humiliated my family and friends and myself. I did not want to make that mistake [again]."
Tim Allen Apologized to His Daughter for Not Being Present
The actor admitted he wasn't the best father for his first daughter due to his substance abuse issues.
Allen's sobriety also helped him become a better father, as he admitted he was not "sober for some of [Kate’s] formative years," referring to his eldest daughter, 36.
"I made amends to her," he added of the child he shares with ex-wife Laura Deibel, 69.
When it came to having his second daughter, Elizabeth, 17, with wife Jane Hajduk, 59, he said, "I see how much different it is when I’ve been sober almost 30 years. She never knew any of that guy."
"I’ve thought about it many times, and I’ve talked to Kate, and she doesn’t hold it against me," he noted.
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Tim Allen Calls Parenting 'a Working in Progress'
Tim Allen has one daughter with ex-wife Laura Deibel and one with wife Jane Hajduk.
Allen confessed he "never really wanted to be a dad" since he was "just never been a real fan of children."
"As people have said many times about parenting, you go through all this [stuff] to get a driver’s license or a passport, but there’s nothing about [raising] children. It was a work in progress," the Home Improvement alum confessed.
The comedian admitted he 'never really wanted to be a dad.'
"My wife says we wish we’d had five kids because you learn on the first two. With Kate, I was gone a lot, so her mom did most of the raising," he recalled. "I come from [a family of] seven boys and two girls, and it’s a very different world to me with girls. I have a different view of what will make a strong woman. The girl stuff I have little interest in — clothing, looks, gossip, and all that — [I focused on] learning finances, learning how to take care of yourself, and that works for boys and girls."
