Paul Skrbina | The Tennessean

Jennifer Guardino opened up Wednesday about her relationship with Predators forward Austin Watson, his arrest last summer on a misdemeanor domestic violence charge and her struggles with addiction and mental health on "Off Ice with Ida & Julie," a podcast hosted by the wives of Watson's teammates Kyle Turris and Mattias Ekholm.

Guardino, Watson's girlfriend and mother of the couple's young daughter, spent a lot of the podcast discussing her own childhood struggles, how she was bullied and lived in a toxic environment that led her to turn to drugs and alcohol during her late teens.

She also addressed Watson's arrest last summer, when it was alleged that he struck her outside a Shell gas station in Franklin.

"I think to this day the hardest thing for me to get over in regards to that incident is the way that Austin and myself were viewed," Guardino said during the podcast. "You know things from that day will follow him forever and kind of, in a sense, haunt him.

"It breaks my heart because he is such a loving man. He's a phenomenal father and works so hard to create safe environment for me and (our) daughter. It's hard for me to say I would take anything back because today him and I are in such a bitchin' place ... and are so strong from what happened.

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"I think a lot of people were expecting us to part ways and not know what to do."

Guardino said in October 2018 that Watson did not commit domestic violence against her.

"Austin Watson has never and would never hit or abuse me," Guardino said then. "My behavior and state of intoxication led to the police being involved that day."

Watson was suspended by the league for the first 18 games of last season for the arrest, to which he pleaded no contest. He returned in mid-November. He was suspended again by the league in late January for an alcohol-related relapse, leaving him to wonder, once again, whether his career was in jeopardy.

"At points last year I wasn’t really quite sure of where my career was going or if it was going to continue," Watson said after signing a three-year, $4.5 million contract extension Oct. 31. "To have some job security here, I’m just super grateful for the organization, the guys. I’ve been through a lot and they’ve been through a lot with me. This is definitely a good day."

Paul Skrbina, The Tennessean

Guardino credited Watson with helping her deal with issues she said began during her childhood, when she said she was bullied, had an unstable home life and developed an eating disorder that quickly led to her addictions.

"Austin has helped me a lot with that," Guardino said during the podcast. "I get emotional talking about him because he's the first man that I've ever truly trusted and that loves me for who I am, even on days when I don't even know who that is. "

She said Watson asked her to move to Nashville for the summer of 2016, when she had been sober for six months and was living in a "sober house" in California. She ended up staying and was pregnant soon after.

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Nashville Predators Austin Watson photos

"I tell Austin this all the time," Guardino said. "I was so happy. Oh my God, this life. When I moved here I kind of had the idea in my head that the Jenn before all that would disappear. She didn't exist. I didn't have an addiction problem anymore. I didn't have mental health (issues). ... So I kind of erased her. I actually believed I could drink again."

Guardino said she relapsed in January, when Watson was suspended indefinitely, and called that the "breaking point" for her. Their relapses occurred a few weeks after Watson shared his experiences with mental health, depression and addiction in a post on Instagram.

Guardino went on to say on the podcast that she and Watson are in a good place now.

"I'm proud to say I'm an alcoholic and an addict and a recovering human being," she said. "I'm in a good place. ... Choosing alcohol over being with her (daughter) was my breaking point. I saw addiction at its finest and it just broke me. ... I'm a better mother because of it now."

How to get help

One in four women will be a victim of domestic abuse in her lifetime. In 2018, Metro Nashville police responded to over 25,000 domestic violence calls.

The latest Violence Policy Center report finds that Tennessee ranked fifth in the nation for the rate of women killed by men after an analysis of 2017 data, a year where nearly 2,000 women were killed under those circumstances.

If you know or suspect that a family member, friend or work colleague is experiencing domestic violence, call 911 or the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233.

Nashville's Family Safety Center on Murfreesboro Pike offers victims of domestic and sexual violence, child and elder abuse, and human trafficking free and confidential services from a variety of providers. Walk-ins are welcome. Call 615-880-1100 for the Family Safety Center or visit ofs.nashville.gov.

You can also call the YWCA to speak with someone at any hour of the day through their Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-334-4628.