Bowman withdrew from the 1986 U.S. Championships after finishing second in the short program; he had a separation between his right tibia and fibula.

In Inside Edge by Christine Brennan, Bowman admitted to having had a $950 a day cocaine habit during his eligible career, and that he had checked into the Betty Ford Center before the 1988 Olympic Games.

[10] Kestnbaum reports that at 1991 Skate America, Bowman "further breached aesthetic distance"[10] by leaning over the barrier and grabbing the leg of an acquaintance in the first row.

He won the competition; in his exhibition skate afterwards, he "frustrated the spectators' gaze even further" when in the middle of the performance, he removed his jacket and draped it over the lens of the camera televising the event.

[11] Bowman retired from competitive skating after the 1992 World Championships and toured with Ice Capades the following year.

Prior to his death, he had returned to southern California to make a comeback in acting, with a role as an assistant coach in Down and Distance.

[8][9] Bowman was pronounced dead on January 10, 2008, at 12:06 p.m. after being found in a motel in the North Hills area of Los Angeles.