The sudden death of 'Glee' actor Cory Monteith took the world by surprise and led many to believe that the star was leading a double life: One of sobriety when he worked and stayed stateside with girlfriend Lea Michele, and one of hard drugs and partying when he went to his hometown of Vancouver.

However, Monteith's friends from the Canadian city are crying foul on those rumors, saying he was surrounded only by sober friends the night of his death.

"They weren't strangers, they weren't bad guys," Monteith's acting coach, Andrew McIllroy, told PEOPLE (via Hello!). "They were long-time sober friends. Cory knew them maybe ten years."

"Essentially, he had spent time with [them] as sober people. They were not using with him [that night]," he insisted. "There was no double life up here."

Monteith had battled addiction multiple times throughout his life, most recently checking into rehab in the spring. Unfortunately, he lost the war with his demons, succumbing to a lethal cocktail of alcohol and heroin in July.

More From Lite 98.7