Reality star Apple Watts admits she 'fell asleep' at the wheel before car accident which left her with life-changing injuries

On 24 March 2022, it was reported that Watts, who was 36 at the time, had been involved in a serious car accident. She had been travelling in her Mercedes in Baker in Los Angeles to Las Vegas when she was involved in a collision with a Ford F250 pickup truck.

Her car reportedly flipped "multiple times" and burst into flames when it came to a stop. Watts sustained serious injuries including a shattered spine, a broken arm and a fractured skull. She was airlifted to University Medical Center in Las Vegas, where her condition was declared as critical and she was placed in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).

The crash left Watts, who is also a former stripper and mum-of-three, with life-changing injuries. She required life saving surgery and on-going treatment, including physical therapy sessions, and during the 18 months that followed she was able to regain her balance, speech and other basic functions. She does still require a wheelchair to move around.

Now, almost three years after the accident, Watts has spoken about what she can remember about that night. She has said she was “buzzed” in the hours leading up to the incident, and then fell asleep when she was close to her home.

Speaking to Mark Laita on his popular Youtube channel, Soft White Underbelly, in an video which was uploaded on Thursday (January 23), she said: “What happened was I was little buzz, but it was hours later. Because I was buzzed before, I got lost. Then I was just an hour away from home. Then I guess I fell asleep and then . . . I ran into a car . . . that type of truck that bringing a new car to another car lot . . . I ran into that truck and I guess I was going 90 miles per hour.

“My car, it crashed and it must have flew off the road and I flew through the window and I went unconscious and then my car caught on fire. Everything I had was just everywhere.” She added that she was lucky to be alive, and said that she had survived because she’s a “gangster” and “such a hard head”.

Apple Watts, whose real name is Jontelle Lafaye Watts, is a reality television star, model dancer, and singer. She rose to fame after appearing on season five of VH1's Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood but has also featured as a dancer in music videos with Chris Brown, Snoop Dogg andTy Dolla $ign. At the time of her accident, she reportedly had a net worth of $1 to $2 million.

After the accident she was in a coma and unresponsive for four months. When she woke up, the star, who will turn 40 in May, said she forgot everything and everybody.

Later in the interview, she issued a warning for others. “Don't drink or drive,” she said: “Don't do that because lots of people died off of this stuff”. Reflecting on her life before the accident, she added: “I lived a fast life, I was dancing, I was meeting celebrities, I was doing all that stuff . . . so drinking and drugs was normal. You thought you were bulletproof.”

She went on: “I used to drink and drive a lot and I used to go to sleep and then wake up the next day so that's what it was like. But not this time. This time I thought it was the next day, I didn't know four months later. It's crazy but I'll never do it again plus I ain't got no license.”

The former dancer went on to share how her injures mean she can no longer work in the profession she used to, but instead she now hopes to be a motivational speaker and “save lives”. “[It’s a very important lesson I just want to teach anybody living the lifestyle that I was living because I can actually save lives,” she said.

“I don't want nobody go through what I'm going through what I went through and what I'm going through. I can't go to the strip club no more. I wish I could. I apply for a job like this, in the wheelchair, but I was thinking in my head maybe somebody could pick me up and I could do a lap dance or something . . . but I thought about it [and] I don't want to be into that environment. I rather motivate women and be a motivational speaker but it's hard financially, I struggle every month.”

She concluded the interview by expressing regret at all the thing she “took for granted” prior to the accident. “I took everything for granted; my kids, my life, my body, everything, “ she said. “I used to sing, now I can't sing. My voice was never like this. I took looks for granted, I took everything for granted. But I am grateful for everything. I'm grateful when I wake up, I'm grateful when I take a nap, I'm grateful about everything I think a lot of people take for granted,” she added.