Kristoff St. John’s Ex-Wife on His Struggles with Mental Illness & Addiction (Exclusive)

Five years after the sudden and tragic death of “The Young and the Restless” star Kristoff St. John, the new documentary “Kristoff” from his ex-wife Mia and their daughter Paris is sharing the side of him only those closest to Kristoff really knew.

In public, Kristoff was a handsome Hollywood soap star, but in private, he was tormented by his son's suicide, battling addiction, and struggling with mental illness and childhood trauma.

“Extra’s” Melvin Robert sat down with Mia and Paris, who are hoping to bring awareness to mental illness and addiction.

Mia remembered him as a “legend” saying, “He started acting when he was 7 years old. He was on "Y&R" for 30 years. People just loved him.”

“We love him, we miss him, and we’re just ready to share our story and to show who he was as a person, as a dad, as an actor,” Paris added.

Mia and Paris wanted to show how mental illness and addiction “tend to go hand in hand.”

Mia noted that Kristoff was bipolar and “suffering from addiction.” She emphasized, “[We] just hope that people can take something away from it and not be ashamed to reach out for help.”

The doc gives a glimpse of Kristoff’s difficult journey as a child actor and his sexual assault as a child by Indian guru and spiritual leader Sai Baba.

Mia shared, "He never got to know who he was or to learn how to be a normal child."

"His family got involved with a cult back in India," she explained. "The cult leader abused him and I think that lead to a lot of his trauma growing up, it was unhealed trama."

"Do you think he ever got over that?" Melvin asked.

"Never, never," Mia replied.

Kristoff also struggled with his 24-year-old son's suicide following a lifelong battle with mental illness filled with shame. While Julian's death was officially ruled a suicide, Kristoff remained adamant until his own death in 2019 that his son was actually murdered.

Mia said, "Taking his medication, he would tend to not want to take it, and we would try to explain to him that this is a serious illness and there's nothing to be ashamed of. It was the same problem I had with my son, who was diagnosed with schizophrenia. You know, often times he wouldn't want to take his medication and ultimately that lead to his suicide."