i know i've loved you from the start ♪ [ cheers and applause ] ♪ this is "nightline." >> byron: tonight, sean combs sued by me and you singer cassie. ♪ me and you ♪ >> byron: accusing the music mogul of rape, sex trafficking, and years of abuse. what combs says in response to the allegations.

and the situation with the situation. mike sorrentino, star of mtv's hard-partying "jersey shore," known for six-pack abs and his way with women, bares all. >> there was upwards of ten naked, beautiful women in my room at one particular time. >> byron: the heroin substance abuse issues he says happened even while cameras were rolling. >> every single season would be like mission impossible for me to try to struggle various amounts of drugs into the house. >> byron: and the moment that changed everything. >> as i hung up the phone, knock on the door. a second angel. >> byron: plus second chances. millions of americans reaching adulthood without a high school diploma. >> my mother and my brother, they dropped out of high school. and i followed along right with them. >> byron: finding programs that meet them where they are.

those undeterred by age to achieving goals. >> i'm going to be a writer i have a story to tell. >> byron: and tv returns. >> it's going to be a great year. >> it is, isn't it? >> byron: good news for fans of "abbott elementary" and the other shows we've been missing. [stomach growling] it's nothing... sounds like something. ♪when you have nausea, heartburn, indigestion♪ ♪upset stomach, diarrhea♪ pepto bismol coats and soothes for fast relief when you need it most.

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>> byron: good evening. thank you for joining us. the singer cassandra known as cassie today filing suit against ex-boyfriend sean combs. in the lawsuit, ventura accused combs of reigning her in her own home after she tried to leave him, a punching, beating, kicking, stomping, and blowing up a man's car after combs learned he was romantically interested in ventura. a lawyer for combs says the musician, quote, vehemently denies these offensive and outrageous allegations and that combs has been subjected to miss ventura's persistent demand of $30 million under the threat of writing a damaging book about their relationship. we turn now to mike sorrentino, best known as the situation from mtv's unlikely smash series "jersey shore." once the hardest partier of the cass, sorrentino admits a series

of harrowing events forced him to face demons and get clean. here's abc's stephanie ramos. >> people think they know about the situation. you have no idea. >> reporter: the world came to know him as "the situation." >> all right, we got a situation. my abs are so ripped up, it's called the situation. >> reporter: from mtv's hit show "jersey shore" spanning six seasons. >> i love you, "jersey shore"! >> reporter: reality tv's self-proclaimed original guido. >> a guido is a good-looking, smooth, well-dressed italian. >> when he walked in for casting they were like, this is our guy. he was tv gold. >> reporter: synonymous with fist-pumping, bottle-popping, ripped abs, and this. lots and lots of it. >> the success of the show, it skyrocketed everything. it was like gasoline on a fire. >> reporter: behind his

on-screen persona which triggered and charmed fans, mike was struggling with his own painful reality. a brutal battle with addiction. >> it's a very dark story. you know? and it could have cost me my life. >> reporter: in his upcoming raw and unfiltered memoir "reality check," mike now sharing how he flipped his narrative from multiple trips to rehab, federal prison lockup, hitting rock bottom, ultimately reclaiming his life. >> i hoped that my life story one day would be someone else's survival guide. >> reporter: "jersey shore" focused on a group of eight roomies living, working, and partying together in this nondescript six-bedroom house steps away from the boardwalk of seaside heights, new jersey. >> there's alcohol involved, not a lot of clothing. you never know what's going to happen. >> reporter: in 2009, the cast went from anonymity to reality stars overnight.

>> "jersey shore" was definitely a ratings juggernaut. people tuned in. >> reporter: did you ever think the show would be this popular? >> i'm a positive guy, but i don't think i could have foreseen this. you know, this is -- you know, you turn 15 minutes of fame into 15 years? that's unheard of. >> reporter: the show was a wild success. mike's lifestyle went from zero to 60. >> the millions are coming in. your phone is off the hook from sponsors. appearances. women. you're on a flight every single day. you're exhausted. and then if you start to make the decision that, hey, maybe if i take this substance and self-medicate, i'll feel better and i'll be able to perform better. >> reporter: he says he relied on prescription opioids, a habit he picked up even before the show's launch. he says he was high even while

on set for "jersey shore." >> every single season would be like mission impossible for me to try to smuggle various amounts of drugs into the house. >> we absolutely had a no drug policy on the show. but i always say, you want to do something, you can always find a way to get it done. >> reporter: for years, mike says he was in and out of rehab. >> it was very important to me to hide my addiction from the world. i worried that if people knew the full story, if they realized how many times i'd failed at sobriety, they would think less of me. eventually that type of behavior is like a domino. >> reporter: partying, drugs, drinking weren't the only things mike says he did to extreme levels. >> i was just a ladies' man. in the heyday of the start of

"jersey shore," there was upwards of ten naked, beautiful women in my room at one particular time. and i thought to myself, is this my life? >> reporter: for years he struggled to get a handle on his life, hitting a breaking point in 2015. >> i had lost the millions and the ferraris and i pretty much was in and at rock bottom. i called up my friend who i used to party with. i was looking to just cop some prescription painkillers. he said, "don't worry, mike, i got you." >> reporter: instead of the usual pills this time mike came home with something he vowed he would never do, heroin. >> i locked my door. and i told lauren that i was going to sleep for the night. and that i wanted to be alone. so i just took a little key bump of it. and i tried it. so then i went in for another key bump. and at that very moment, my phone rings.

it was my mother. and my mom's like, "are you okay?" >> she had a feeling? >> she had a feeling. "i'm fine, mom, why?" "i feel like something's wrong." this was a come to god moment. as she said that, i took that as a message from the almighty. and i put it down. and as i hung up the phone, knock on the door. a second angel. >> reporter: lauren? she was right there? >> yeah, my wife. yep, my wife was knocking at the door at the same time. so it was definitely a very emotional moment for me. they saved me. >> reporter: this experience led him to rehab for the final time. >> before, i didn't take it seriously. and the fourth time with my back against the wall, my life was on the line. i had no other choice.

>> reporter: in 2018, now sober, mike reunited with his squad for a reboot, "jersey shore: family vacation." >> you're sober? >> 28 months. >> i'm very proud of him. >> yes, amazing. >> he took care of us. >> they supported me every single night we went out. and before i even got here to do this show, i was already two years sober. >> reporter: as he showed the world this new version of himself, parts of his past followed him. >> i was careless. i was reckless. i had the mindset of, whatever happens, happens. and what happened to us, they sent me to prison. >> reporter: mike ultimately pleaded guilty to tax evasion, and in october 2018 was sentenced to eight months in federal prison. >> a reality star known as "the situation" pleaded guilty today. >> reporter: mike was released from prison in september 2019. >> where to? >> back to the jersey shore.

>> reporter: and began sharing his story, hoping to inspire others. >> all energy went into being my best self. the situation was morphing into the inspiration. >> reporter: today, with a house and a yard in the suburbs of new jersey and a third kid on the way, his life is unrecognizable. >> i'd have to say my biggest flex is being a dad. you know? >> the urban dad. >> i love being a sober dad. i love being a husband. the money and the cars, i've done that. what impresses me is the man that you are. the dad that you are. the husband that you are. that impresses me. >> byron: our thanks to stephanie. you can see the full "impact by nightline," "the situation: drugs and sex on the jersey shore" now streaming on hulu. when we come back, second chances for those who really

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♪ ♪ >> byron: welcome back. tonight we bring you stories of some adults who never got to finish high school. their plans derailed by life's circumstances. some are finding programs designed to give them another shot at an academic foundation. this report part of series "the american classroom." >> good morning. good morning. >> byron: it's busy in tynesha

kennedy's home. seeing played out something any busy parent can relate to. brushing teeth. dressing. combing hair. then out the door to school. but it's not your ordinary school. >> we are on our way to school for me and daycare for the girls. >> byron: because the classroom bell rings for tynesha. >> school is to get my high school diploma, and a daycare center, which the school provides, which is amazing. so it makes it easier for parents like me to get their diploma. >> byron: the 33-year-old attends the good will excel centre in downtown baltimore, a city where roughly 1 of 3 students don't graduate high school. >> did you have any other questions today? >> byron: this, a place for

second chances for 150 students who never graduated. >> my mother and my brother, they dropped out of high school. and i followed along right with them. i will be breaking a generational curse in my family. >> byron: geraldine scott, 73 years young, says it's finally her time. >> i have dreams. i'm going to be a writer. i have a story to tell. >> amen. >> i had -- i was a -- had children when i was a teenager. i had to be a parent. i had two children by the time i was 18 years old. so school wasn't possible. >> byron: there are more than threes do excel centres around the country, one of several programs nationwide offering former dropouts an education at no cost. this program provides a path for you? >> it does. >> byron: tynesha one of 420,000 students who dropped out in the

2006-2007 school year. since then 7 million or more young people have withdrawn from high school. >> when students don't graduate from high school, it makes it very difficult for them to access job opportunities. >> byron: research shows the median weekly income for someone who doesn't complete high school is roughly 25% less than a high school grad. even those with geds typically earn slightly less. >> it's very important that learners are able to complete school so they don't run into those challenges. fortunately, there are a lot of programs across the country that provide that support to adults to get their degree, which is beneficial. >> byron: tynesha, who works nights, says coming to excel is the first time in a long time she's caught a break. >> i've been trying to get my ged for a while, but life has happened in between. there was no support. i kept having children. no support. i put it on the back burner for so long. >> byron: how old were you when you had your first child? >> 15. >> being a parent is never easy.

how hard is it when you're a parent at 15? >> really hard. it's really hard. at 15 -- you're still trying to figure out who you are. and then you're still trying to figure out what you want to do with yourself. then you have a child. all of that changes. because it's no longer about you, it's about your child. >> byron: she leaned on her parents for help. >> i had support, but it was not a lot of support. i was in school. i was working. and then i had to work, and my child which i don't regret because i would do it again if i had to. >> byron: she would go on to have six more children, including one who was murdered by a boyfriend who also abused her. despite immense heartache, she says these experiences made her stronger. >> i'm only 33. i've been through a lot.

a lot of 33-year-olds haven't been through. the fact that i survived, and it was a long road that i had to get through -- it humbled me. >> byron: many students here faced tough challenges when they were children. >> i dropped out three years ago. three times. ninth grade, tenth grade, eleventh grade. i'm back to receive something i didn't have. >> byron: 22-year-old sharmar rice says he was bullied and struggled to stay motivated in school. he's now chasing his dream of being an actor. seen in a small part on hbo max's "perry mason." recently accepted to the school of performing arts in los angeles. getting his diploma is the only thing holding him back. >> i don't have my transcript just of yet. so this high school will be able to send that out to the college for me. and that's going to be completing the last requirement. >> we want them to know we see them for who they are and that their past does not define them.

>> reporter: ashley gaines c.a. is a life coach, acting as part social worker and part career adviser, helping students here achieve more than their diplomas. >> this is what this property is all about. >> for a lot of our students, the thing that really held them back is that many of the people in their lives did not have the high school diploma themselves. so we have mothers and daughters who are here. we see that it's kind of a pattern within the families. and they really want to break those cycles. they're turning over a new leaf, and we see that in them. >> byron: for tynesha, making it to high school graduation means she can walk taller, dream bigger, and so much more. >> i want to have that self-accomplishment myself. i want to have -- be able to say, i completed it. i did it. and i want to have a better job. i love my job, but i don't want to leave this earth like, oh,

she just had children, she just had children. now it's like, she had children, but she also went back to school. she completed school. >> byron: our thanks to the good people we met in my hometown of baltimore and across the country. those adults vowing to stay the course and achieve their dreams and the counselors and educators who support them. you can catch the "abc news live" special, "the american classroom" which debuts tomorrow night at 8:30 p.m. eastern on your favorite streaming platform. when we come back, "abbott elementary" and the roll call of other shows returning after the industry's longest actors' strike. >> thank you. just the day in the life of being a teacher here, you get used to it. >> and that smell? >> you're never going to get used to that. medicine used to reduce etude, a prescriptn the risk of hiv without daily prep pills.

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♪ ♪ >> byron: finally tonight, and i do mean finally, we're getting word of when new tv, the first wave of post-actors' strike shows, will be returning to primetime. abc today announcing the return of its most popular shows, "the conners," "not dead yet," kicking off a new season of sorts in early february. along with the award-winning "abbott elementary." >> this is food, you eat like you took a cooking class in prison. >> byron: in march, "9 others back in production after the strikes which triggered the longest shutdown in hollywood history. we're glad t