Former England footballer Paul Gascoigne has opened up about his additions, describing how he used Calpol to fuel his addiction and was banned from every chemist in Newcastle.
The former England footballer opened up about his addictive personality on Channel 4's Scared of the Dark. The Mirror reports the dad-of-three has publicly battled alcohol addiction and mental health problems, and he revealed how he lied about having nine children in a bit to get Calpol.
The 55-yea-old was announced as the winner of the show on Thursday. He says the show, which was fronted by Danny Dyer, has "bought his smile back".
All the stars were kept in the dark for several days during the show. Other competitors included Chris Eubank, Scarlett Moffatt, Chris McCausland, Donna Preston, Chloe Burrows, Max George and Nicola Adams .
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Speaking on the Channel 4 show earlier this week, he said: “Unfortunately, I’ve got this addiction personality. I stopped going to rehab for stupid reasons, you know. I was like, that’s the addict side of us so I went for Calpol.
"Calpol has 0.00 and it’s 1% of alcohol. And I thought well if I buy ten bottles, that’s like having nearly a pint. I was going around chemists and saying listen, I didn’t wanna tell anyone but I’ve got nine kids, I need Calpol.
"They were saying nine kids, what are you doing with nine kids? I went yeah but don’t tell my family. It costs us a lot of money in maintenance. And eventually, I was barred from all the chemists I think in Newcastle!”
The former attacking midfielder has previously spoken about how he suffered a lifelong fear of the dark. His family urged him not to do the show and there was speculation his previous struggles would see him excluded.
But Paul had a mental health screening before being accepted and insisted he was more than equal to the challenge. He says: “I’ve been scared of the dark since I was a kid. I slept with the lights on.
"As an adult, I slept with the TV on and the sound turned down. I think it’s a fear of the unknown. I think I did the show because I wanted to conquer it.
“But my family thought I was mad. Mam said, ‘Don’t do it, Paul’. One sister said, ‘You can’t do that, you’re s*** scared of the dark’ and my other sister said, ‘But you’re petrified’. I told them I’d be all right.
But I’ll tell you what, I wouldn’t do those first few hours again. I was waiting with Danny and I asked him, ‘We’ll be alright, won’t we?’ He told me, ‘I will, I’m not going in. It’s horrible.’
“Then the lights went out. I nearly collapsed. I was sitting on the floor, crying, saying I wanted to quit. But after the first few hours, I started to get my bearings and I got to grips with it.
“After a few days I was taking the mickey out of the others and having a laugh. People think I’m not mentally strong enough to do something like this, but that’s a load of b*******.”
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