( CNN ) -- Pop icon David Cassidy , in rehab after his latest DUI arrest , says if he ever takes another drink , it could be fatal . In an interview with Piers Morgan , Cassidy admitted that his latest drunken driving arrest was a wake-up call . `` If I take another drink , I 'm going to die , physically , mentally , emotionally , spiritually . I 'm dead , '' Cassidy , 63 , said . `` You know , they say it 's a slippery slope . ... It 's not a slippery slope . It 's from 12:00 to 6:00 on the clock and the whole face is ice . One sip , one drink , because there is no such a thing , not to an alcoholic . You have one and you 're -- you 're done . I 'd be done . '' Cassidy said it was time to stop being in denial and be honest with himself . `` It 's very painful , especially when I spent most of my life being what I would consider a very loving , caring charitable man and someone who has always protected my own image until the time , not wanting to disappoint the millions of fans that I have around the world . And , and it 's very humbling and it 's also humiliating . '' Cassidy checked into rehab in South Florida after being arrested on a DUI charge on January 10 in Los Angeles after stopping for a drink on his way to the airport . He pleaded no contest and received a sentence of five years ' probation and 90 days in rehab , although his manager said he will be credited for the time he has already spent in residential treatment . That incident followed DUI arrests in August 2013 in Schodack , New York , ( that case is still pending ) and one in St. Lucie County , Florida , in November 2010 for which he received a sentence of a year 's probation and had his license suspended for six months . The singer also received community service and a fine in that case . His interview with Morgan was the first time Cassidy had publicly talked about his struggle to stay sober . `` I am most definitely an alcoholic , '' Cassidy said . `` And the interesting thing about it and the way you end up with multiple DUIs -- I never got arrested for anything until I was basically 60 years old . And I have very , very strong values about what I am and who I am . `` I 've done an enormous amount of bringing light into people 's lives , and I 'm very proud of that and touching and inspiring people . '' He admitted that until his latest arrest , `` I had been lying to myself and consequently lying to everyone else about my disease . '' Cassidy came to fame with his role as Keith Partridge in the hit '70s TV show `` The Partridge Family , '' and toured the world singing his hit songs . At the time , his fan club was bigger than Elvis and The Beatles and he continues to perform around the country . The drinking began in 2002 , he said , and then got worse over time . This is Cassidy 's third stint in rehab . `` I certainly never drank or took any drugs or narcotics , contrary to whatever has been printed , when I was doing 'The Partridge Family ' or thereafter for that matter , '' he said . In recent months , the former teen idol acknowledged that he was on a downward spiral . In addition to the most recent arrest , his third wife filed for divorce . Asked how she would react to how the drinking affected his behavior , he told Morgan , `` She 'd just say it made me an ass . ... you know it made me a fricking d**k. And you know , I was n't ... authentic , OK . It 's because I have an allergy to it . My personality changes I 'm not aware of it . I never stop talking , you know . ... it 's obnoxious . It 's embarrassing . '' Despite all his recent setbacks , Cassidy said he had recently had a life-altering `` spiritual experience . '' `` I dropped to my knees and I felt something go through me that was like , I felt this experience that was just , thank you God . I felt this relief . I begged it and I was crying and weeping like a little boy , like a , like a sobbing little infant , like I 'm sure I did many times as a kid . And I felt this incredible sense of relief because I stopped lying to myself , '' he said .
The former teen idol , his latest arrest has been a ` ` cover - up . '' David Cassidy says he will die if he has another arrest . He tells David Morgan that he has been lying to himself .