Lindsay Leaving Rehab to Spend Time With Dad

Is it mean to say that something about Michael Lohan irks me? I’m not sure what it is. Maybe he really does have Lindsay’s best interest at heart – I just hope he isn’t using her fame and struggles for his own financial gain. He seems awfully ready to open his mouth and talk about her personal life whenever he has the chance. That doesn’t seem right to me. I could be very wrong though.

The New York Daily News is reporting that “Lindsay’s Lohan’s dad is heading to Utah next week to spend five days of “quality time” with his troubled daughter – a visit he hopes will help in her battle to stay clean and sober, the Daily News has learned.

“We’ve still got a lot of catching up to do,” said Michael Lohan, who reunited with the “Mean Girls” starlet for two days at the Cirque Lodge rehab center in Sundance this month after a two-year estrangement.

This time, Michael will take LiLo from the facility to a remote undisclosed location in Utah as part of out-patient therapy, he said.

“I’m looking forward to spending the next week with her,” he said. “We’ve been in constant phone contact. She’s in a great, great place now. I’ve never heard her so honest, contrite and focused.

“Lindsay is weeding out all the bad. She’s taking a step back and reevaluating her life. What she tells – her honesty and openness – has brought me to tears. It’s beyond words how proud I am of her.”

LiLo’s mom, Dina, who’s battled with Michael over just about everything concerning their daughter, could not be reached for comment.

Sources said Michael and LiLo wanted next week’s visit and counselors gave their blessing.

“They believe Michael’s the best person for Lindsay to be with now,” one insider said.

“Not only is he her dad – someone with her best interests at heart – but he’s also someone who successfully turned his own life around after battling substance abuse.”

Unlike her mother Dina – who works as her agent – Michael is uninvolved in his daughter’s career.

Cirque Lodge is Lindsay’s third stay at rehab, after two previously unsuccessful stints in the pricey Los Angeles facilities Wonderland and Promises.

She checked into Cirque Lodge – which also treated Mary-Kate Olsen and David Hasselhoff – in early August.

Since leaving prison in March on an assault and DWI conviction, Michael Lohan has been trying to get closer to LiLo and his other three kids.

He’s been estranged from his family since Dina Lohan filed for divorce in January 2005. The couple divorced in July.

By most accounts the former stockbroker, producer and actor isn’t the same man jailed for various assault charges.

Once known as the “Hollywood Dad from Hell,” he’s become an ordained minister and wants to make amends for his mistakes.

“Michael knows he can help Lindsay to continue to win her battle against alcohol and drugs,” said a source.

“He was in rehab twice himself when he was trying to kick his own addictions – which included alcohol, cocaine and sex.

“He knows the pitfalls and temptations that await someone preparing to leave rehab. He wants to be there for Lindsay now because so many times in the past, he wasn’t able to be when she needed him.”

Tags: lindsay lohan, lindsay lohan news, lindsay lohan rehab

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