Richard Mylan has claimed he's been overwhelmed by the public response to his confession he's harboured a 20-year secret heroin addiction. The 48-year-old actor is best known for playing deputy headteacher Simon Lowsley in the hit school-set BBC drama Waterloo Road, which has previously featured such well-known Geordie names as Jill Halfpenny and Denise Welch.
However, his recent announcement that he'd been hooked on drugs for decades shocked his fans. Dad-of-two Mylan, who's been in recovery for 10 years, added that he chose to come clean to help reduce the stigma surrounding addiction.
But he also said he knew such a disclosure could damage his acting career. However, in a TV interview earlier this week (Monday, May 16) he admitted that he needn't have worried, reports Birmingham Live.
Read more: Where are Byker Grove cast now? From pop careers to Strictly win and quitting Fifty Shades
"The response has been genuinely overwhelming," he told BBC Wales Today. "Just this kind of outpouring of love and compassion and support.
"It really made me think, 'You know what? We really can challenge the stigma' - which was part of the reason I came forward in the first place." The Swansea-born star, who works with south Wales-based charity Adferiad, added that he now wants to help fellow addicts get into recovery.
"But also wanted to unburden myself because it is something I have kept secret for a huge part of my life, and to carry that around every day does effect your general mental health. It can really grind you down, so for it to be finally out there was freeing."
Mylan said that his addiction began at the start of his acting career when he was performing in London's West End. He called it the "biggest mistake I ever made," adding that he was battling "crippling anxiety" during those early days.
Read next
