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Aaron Carter’s twin sister, Angel Carter Conrad, believes she’s alive today because she was the “neglected” child.
Angel, the youngest of five siblings, and Backstreet Boys member Nick Carter, the eldest of the brood, have lost two sisters and one brother — all in drug-related deaths.
Leslie Carter died in January 2012 at the age of 25, pop star Aaron died in November 2022 at 34 and Bobbie Jean Carter died in December 2023 at 41.
“I really think that from a young age, because I was neglected, it ultimately saved me,” Angel, 37, tells Page Six in an exclusive interview about her new Paramount+ documentary, “The Carters,” directed by Soleil Moon Frye.
“I spent a lot of time in social settings with my friends and their families, sitting around a dinner table, really talking about our day,” she says.
Angel feels that her siblings were not afforded the same kind of “normal” experiences.
They were all raised by mom Jane Carter and dad Bob Carter, who died in May 2017 at age 65. Angel believes the patriarch’s sudden death from a heart attack was also related to drugs.
According to Angel, the Carter kids are the products of generations of dysfunction, substance abuse, mental illness, physical and emotional abuse, infidelity and greed.
Nick, 45, found fame in the music industry at a young age, which inspired Aaron — who was diagnosed with both schizophrenia and bipolar disorder as an adult — to follow in his footsteps at an even younger age.
Bobbie Jean and Leslie were musically gifted as well, but Bob and Jane seemed to put the majority of their focus on the boys, who brought in the money.
Angel tells us she’s always had a sense of “openness” and “a lot of respect and love for [her] elders,” which served her when she got to the most “pivotal” and “defining” moment of her life in 2006.
“After we finished filming [the reality show] ‘House of Carters,’ the last day that we were in the house, Nick sat us all down in the living room, and he said, ‘Who wants to go to therapy? I will pay for it,’” she recalls.
Angel was the only one who raised her hand because, as she explains, she had a genuine desire to “break the cycle.”
“So I went to therapy, and Nick paid for me to go to therapy for almost a decade after,” she reveals.
“It really was a decade of intense therapy as an 18-year-old, 19-year-old, and then throughout my 20s, relearning everything.”
Their shared yearning to “make the change” is why Angel says she and Nick “have such a good relationship” today. Unfortunately, they’re also bonded by trauma.
“I always say that there is one person in my life who understands what it was like to grow up in that home, and it’s Nick,” Angel tells us.
“So we really have that connection. It’s a feeling that you go back to; it’s not just the memories, you know what I mean? Like, you go back to that feeling. You can tap into that at any time, and there’s only one other person that 100 percent gets it.”
Angel adds that she’s “incredibly grateful and thankful” to have Nick “in those moments of grief and weakness,” noting that he “always picks up the phone.”
She goes on, “I always say that I don’t ever want to not cry for my siblings and for my dad and for all these losses because it’s in those moments that you really feel connected with them the most.”
Though Angel has been “down this road” of fatal overdoses “many times,” she laments that losing “a twin hits you differently,” especially because she and Aaron remained “very close” despite the different paths they took.
“I feel so connected to him. I just know him so well. I know what his messaging is, even now,” she shares.
“I felt this urge to want to share Aaron’s story because I know Aaron so well and so intimately, and I know what a good person he was at his core and how much he loved people and helping other people.
“I know that if Aaron had been in his right mind, this is what he would be doing with his life — he would be helping people and showing up for people.”
In her quest to understand addiction, Angel learned that helping others plays a major role in recovery of all kinds.
“So for me, helping other people who are going through grief and are going through loss and trauma has been incredibly healing,” she says.
Aaron’s death inspired Angel and her husband, Corey Conrad — who wed in February 2014 before welcoming daughter Harper, 6 — to get involved with the Kids Mental Health Foundation, the leading organization promoting mental health for children in the United States.
It was via the foundation that the couple was able to organize the incredibly successful Songs of Tomorrow benefit concert in honor of Aaron — just weeks after he died.
“We actually raised over $150,000 for the foundation,” Angel discloses with pride before making sure to note that she “doesn’t like to take credit for that because that is [her] brother’s gift.”
“The Carters” is now streaming on Paramount+.
If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, please contact the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) helpline at 1-800-662-HELP.
