no photo available

drink-driving arrest--because he convinced her to drive home after a boozy

barbecue.

The former Growing Pains star was placed on three years probation last month

after pleading guilty to a second felony drink-driving charge in

January.

The 35-year-old actress, who was almost two times over the legal alcohol

limit, was arrested after a rollover crash that injured her husband and two of

their three children.

And Gold insists she would never have driven back from a family barbecue if

her husband Roby Marshall (corr) hadn't convinced her she'd be fine to drive.

In her first full interview since the crash--on Oprah Winfrey's daytime show--Gold says, "In our relationship my husband always drives... It's sort of never a thought in my mind. So we drove there.

"I didn't hang out with my husband a lot at the party. I was with the moms...

it was a very nice family thing. I'd had some wine over the course of the

evening. I'd been sipping it with the moms and it was just a nice night.

"At the end of the night it became apparent that my husband could not drive

home. He had been drinking. He had been doing more than just having a sip. It's

not like him.

Story continues below...

"He said to me, 'I can't drive... You'll have to drive,' and my first

instinct is, 'I'm not gonna drive because the truth is... I am not a person who

drinks and drives. But I didn't listen to my inner voice."

Gold admits she's living with the shame of the accident and subsequent arrest

every day.

She adds, "It was the lowest point of my life. I have always been a really

optimistic person who tries to see things clearly... and I'm always proud of

who I am. All of a sudden I felt so much shame and I was embarrassed to be me.

"I live my life every day as a responsible, careful, good person, I think...

and I made a horrible, horrible choice that evening."

Article Copyright World Entertainment News Network All Rights Reserved.