Danny Dyer has candidly discussed needing to get help after admitting his ego was ruining his life.
The EastEnders star, 45, opened up on how he isn't "suited" to fame and admitted it was always going to take him down the wrong path.
But he said he had a moment in which he realised he had to change otherwise he was going to lose everyone close to him.
The Londoner spoke honestly with Jaime Winstone on her podcast titled Greatest Night Ever, insisting he had created a "sort of cartoon character" version of himself in which he took a lot of drugs.
Speaking about his lightbulb moment, he told the actress, who starred as Peggy Mitchell in an EastEnders throwback earlier in the week, how he realised he was on the way to "f***ing everything up".
He said it was the wake up call to make him drag himself back. "I didn’t want fresh linen. I didn’t want a Priory-type gaff," he said.
"I’m not knocking the Priory. I understand it. I needed to be down on a floor, scrubbing khazis and just broken down completely, because what I’ve recognised is ego."
He continued to say he knows ho important an ego is, but insisted it's crucial to know if it is you or your ego that is in control.
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And he admitted that he worked on slowing down by using a technique in which he lay down for an hour and a half "breathing really hard".
He said it began as hard work but soon had him going into a place which helped him release his emotions. Danny confessed that the first time he tried the technique he "sobbed me f***ing heart out".
He continued: "It took me to a mad place, right. And then, when you stop, you are rushing out . . . like this is an intense thing."
Earlier in the emotional discussion, Danny confessed he believes he would have died if he hadn't have quit his role on EastEnders.
He had been on the show for nine years portraying Mick Carter when he decided enough was enough and is set to leave Albert Square later this year.
He also opened up on the importance of his wife Jo, who he tied the knot with in 2016 and shares three children with.
