Rehabbing Arquette told his daughter he was off to camp

Troubled actor David Arquette told his six-year-old daughter Coco he was heading off on a camping trip as he packed for a 28-day rehab stint last month (Jan11) - because he couldn't bring himself to tell her the truth.

The Scream star agreed to seek help for a drinking problem at the end of December (10) after his estranged wife Courteney Cox and sister Patricia staged an intervention at his home.

But when it came to explaining what was going on to little Coco, Arquette admits he had to lie.

In a candid TV interview with Oprah Winfrey, which aired on Thursday (24Feb11), the actor said, "I told her at first I had to go away to a camp, so maybe that part wasn't honest, but it kind of was."

But he couldn't lie to Coco when she came to visit him: "(I said) 'I'm here to learn how to be a better person, but I'm also here so that I don't drink anymore, because I've been drinking a lot'."