Lindsay Lohan's addictive and self-destructive personality traits

Lindsay Lohan is following in her father's footsteps.

Dad Michael admits he is no saint - but since finding God, he is desperate to heal the rift with his famous daughter reports Mirror UK.

Michael fears that he and Lindsay share the same addictive and self-destructive personality traits and longs to help her turn her life around.

It is something that 20-year-old Lindsay has recognized, too. Although father and daughter have not seen one another for two years, they began speaking by phone again a few months ago.

"In one of our conversations she told me, 'Daddy, I am just like you! I am you'," says Michael, 47, in an exclusive interview with the Mirror.

"I'm the first to admit I've made mistakes in the past - whether it was from acting out, abusing cocaine and alcohol or listening to the wrong people. But I hope and pray my daughter learns from my mistakes. I don't want her to end up where I did."

Michael, who recently completed a 20-month jail sentence for drink driving - he hit a telegraph pole at 80mph while twice over the limit - has checked into rehab twice to battle drink and drugs, but he insists he is now clean.

While inside he was dismayed to learn that Lindsay had needed a spell in rehab, too. He was told by fellow inmates who'd heard the news on the prison radio. His concern grew over photos showing her allegedly snorting cocaine, and reports of her constant hard-partying.

"She's an extremely talented actress and at the moment she's wasting the gifts God gave her," he says. "Obviously I've heard all the rumours and comments, but I don't know what to believe. I certainly know the path I'd like her to take. People who are close to both Lindsay and I tell me they are concerned. I would like to be there for my daughter.

"I want to look in her eyes and know the truth. I can help her in a lot of ways."

Although Michael believes he can help Lindsay battle her demons, he feels partly to blame for them. She was deeply hurt by his acrimonious split from her mother Dina, with whom he is locked in a bitter custody battle over visitation rights to their other children - sons Michael, 18, and Dakota, 10, and 12-year-old daughter Aliana.

"I'm hopeful we can work out a solution for the sake of our kids - especially Lindsay," he says. "Sadly, she's the one who's been the most affected by all this.

"I wish Lindsay would put our relationship back on track so maybe her life will get back on track. Her biggest issue today is she doesn't have her family back where it was, when she had a good life and was doing the right things."