John Partridge has opened up about his 14-year battle with drink and drugs.
The former EastEnders and Celebrity Big Brother star revealed his secret torment while appearing on Good Morning Britain on Thursday (2 August).
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After one year of sobriety, John is now talking about his experiences in his own show at the Edinburgh Fringe festival.
The one-man show focuses on his own dependancy on substances.
Talking to Ben Shephard and Kate Garraway about the show, he explained that his problems started as young as a teenager.
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He said: “Well, I didn’t think they’d become [a problem]. I started working at 16 in the West End and I’m now 47 – and don’t I look good for it!
“It’s something that I’ve used throughout my career and throughout my life, any form of addiction is about not wanting to feel, whether that is food, drugs, drink, shopping, sex – that’s what it’s about and that’s what I didn’t want to do.”
He continued: “I didn’t want to feel. I never felt confident in just being myself, in just allowing myself to feel like me.
Doing The Full Monty at the beginning of the year allowed me to open up and be honest about an aspect of my life I’ve kept private, even from my family, for 14 years. That was a floodgate for me.”
The actor, who played Christian Clarke in EastEnders from 2008 to 2016, went on to thank the public for their support.
He added: “The overwhelming sense of relief and comfort and support I got from the public, from my friends and from my family gave me confidence to open that out.
“And explain where I had been. I chose to talk about my sobriety and my addiction in a stage show because that’s where I feel most comfortable.”
Last year, John opened up about the death of his mother after her battle with Alzheimer’s.
He entered CBB to raise money for her care.
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