Steve-O was born in the Wimbledon, London. His mother, Donna Gay (nee Wauthier), was Canadian, and his father, Richard Glover, was American. His paternal grandfather was English and his maternal step-grandfather was voice-over announcer Wayne Howell. His family was based in Brazil for many years due to his father's presidency of the South American division of Pepsi-Cola.

On February 23, 2008 Steve-O joined the rest of the Jackass crew for the Jackass MTV 24 Hour Takeover, which promoted JackassWorld.com. He participated in several stunts, and even debuted his rap music video which was executive produced by recording artist D-Jukes, leading to Mike Judge bringing back the duo of Beavis and Butt-head for the first time in years to criticize it. Later, during the live broadcast Steve-O was kicked out of MTV studios on the request of executives for his behavior and intoxication.  On March 9, 2008, after receiving an e-mail from Steve-O that suggested his possible suicide, Steve-O's friends, including co-star Johnny Knoxville, became concerned he was a danger to himself and consulted with physician Dr. Drew Pinsky, who told them to get Steve-O to a hospital immediately. Steve-O was placed on a 72-hour psychiatric hold which was later lengthened to 14 days due to an alleged suicide attempt. In a mass e-mail addressed to his friends, Steve-O expressed that he previously had thought of his drug use and bipolarity as a "good thing", but that he now realizes that his drug use was apparently hurting those he loved most.  On June 4, 2008, Steve-O pleaded guilty to felony possession of cocaine. He avoided jail by the successful completion of his treatment program. In July, after 115 days of sobriety, Steve-O announced he was "back in the loony bin". He returned to the mental institution, he said, because "I've had horrible mood swings and severe depression. My brain is fucked up from using so much cocaine, ketamine, PCP, nitrous oxide, and all sorts of other drugs."

what happened in 2008
On March 9, 2008, after receiving an e-mail from Steve-O that suggested his possible suicide,