Former X Factor contestant Frankie Cocozza has said he's a drug addict and has done cocaine with A-listers.
The singer, 29, who now lives in Sydney, was kicked off the talent contest aged just 18, after he spoke in front of production staff about using cocaine.
By 2017 he was working on a building site mixing cement, and now has spoken honestly about his addiction issues in a podcast.
Speaking on The James Smith Podcast last week, Frankie, a dad of one, said: "I know that if the money hadn't run out I would still be snorting gear, I would say it's a fact.
"I am a drug addict, it's as simple as that. I love cocaine, I'm sorry, I do."
Frankie welcomed his son Frankie Jr in 2019 with wife Bianca, and in the podcast, the Celebrity Big Brother runner-up said he's trying to stay clean for the sake of his son.
“I have made a conscious effort to try and stop since the bubba’s been born," he explained.
"I feel bad because I’m saying I love it and that, but I know what I need to do as a dad now, and that’s not to do it."
Frankie also revealed that at the height of his fame, he snorted cocaine with A-listers.
"I've sniffed cocaine with people that you just wouldn't in a million years believe it," he remembered.
"I'm an 18-year old kid and they’re doing it with him. It’s insane. No one gives a f***.”
Frankie immediately caught the attention of X Factor judges as he revealed he had his bum tattooed with the names of seven girls he had bedded. But he was later axed after a crew member reportedly heard him boasting about cocaine-fuelled sex sessions.
Speaking in 2017, ahead of appearing on Celebs Go Dating, he said: "They only put me on there because I had tattoos on my a**e...I wasn’t any good at singing. I was just a lairy 18-year-old. They weren’t going to get any number ones off me.
“Me and my mates just turned up at clubs all over the country afterwards and had loads of free booze poured down our necks and an army of girls trying to get in to sit with us."
After his exit from the show he made two EPs – one reaching 19 on iTunes, the other failing to chart – but it was his car crash lifestyle that kept him in demand in the reality TV arena.
In 2012 he was in Celebrity Big Brother, coming second to winner Denise Welch. With the show’s fee, a host of magazine deals and club appearances worth up to £4,000 a night, Frankie reportedly earned more than 2011 X Factor winners Little Mix in the 12 months after the show.
*Frank offers confidential advice about drugs and addiction (email frank@talktofrank.com, message 82111 or call 0300 123 6600) or the NHS has information about getting help.
