'You've Just Won the Lottery': Tatum O'Neal's Former Fling Spills All About Rehab Hookup

Oscar-winning actress Tatum O'Neal struggled with drug abuse for years, having entered rehab a number of times to aid in her sobriety journey long before she opened up about her near-fatal stroke.

It was at one of these facilities that she crossed paths with a ponytailed construction worker who detailed how a short-lived romance blossomed between them in the late 1990s, RadarOnline.com can exclusively report.

Tim Zick said they met at the Caron Foundation rehab center in Wernersville, Pennsylvania. By that point, the former child star already had a notable role under her belt in the acclaimed film Paper Moon alongside her father, Ryan O'Neal.

Zick was 11 years her junior and claimed in a tell-all interview that she demanded "kiss me" as he sat quietly reading his anti-drug book. "No one was around so I did," Zick said, claiming that's how rapidly their chemistry rose off the charts.

It was the fourth clinic she had attended in 14 months amid her pursuit to get clean for the sake of her children. Her 1986 marriage to tennis legend John McEnroe had been tumultuous, ending in a contentious divorce and a custody battle.

During certain chapters of her life, she struggled with heroin addiction.

Zick claimed that after their release, they had regular hookups in her luxurious New York apartment, her country estate, as well as at his modest place over the course of 10 days.

"I couldn't believe it," star-struck Zick said. "I kept telling her, 'I am a nothing and you are a famous film star,' but she told me she just wanted someone normal."

He detailed one past group meeting in which he talked about liking to drink at a local bar — Mr. Dick's. "She thought that was really funny. Afterwards, she came up to me, very flirtatiously, and asked me to take her to Mr. Dick's," Zick shared.

Zick said he explained to O'Neal that she would never understand "my way of life," adding that he woke up early for coffee at 7-11, went to work and then ended his daily regimen with a lottery ticket purchase. "She looked at me and said, 'Tim, you've just won the lottery with me!"

Zick claimed they had to keep their feelings for each other under wraps while in rehab. "We would go for walks together and kiss and cuddle, but in the clinic, that's as far as it went." After they left, he said it didn't take long for them to reunite.

"I spoke to her a few times after then, but we seemed to be getting more distant," Zick said. "The way I look at ist is that it was fun. I had my few weeks in the sun with Tatum."

RadarOnline.com has reached out to a rep for O'Neal for comment.

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O'Neal has continued to make strides after a May 2020 drug overdose and suffering a severe stroke, which left her in a six-week coma.

"I almost died," she told PEOPLE.

"To me, this last chapter where she wants to live, wants to get sober, wants to learn, I think it's a miracle. I think it's beautiful," her son Kevin proudly shared. "I've never been more proud to be her son. She's full of love and full of heart."