Strictly Come Dancing’s Paul Merson has courageously shared his battle with gambling addiction in a revealing documentary.
The Sky Sports pundit and ex-England footballer has previously spoken about his gambling issues, but this documentary provides a fresh perspective on his 35-year struggle.
The BBC describes Paul Merson: Football, Gambling, and Me as a “candid look at the ex-footballer’s battle with addiction”.
In the hour-long feature, Merson, 56, aims to understand why his life has been so affected by gambling and questions if enough is being done to prevent others from following his path.
BBC iPlayer recently labelled Paul’s enlightening documentary as “don’t miss” content on their platform, reports MyLondon.
The Strictly contestant of 2024 has confessed to squandering millions of pounds earned from his football career on gambling.
In the documentary, he admits: “I’ve been addicted to alcohol and cocaine, but by far the most destructive and the only one I’m still struggling with today is gambling.
“If I want to get drunk or high, I have to put something up my nose or down me.
“Gambling’s already in you, just waiting constantly, talking to you. I’d be sitting on the sofa and I’d look over at the kids.
“The hate I had for myself, thinking about how I’d let them down. The scary thing is you know there’s only one outcome, but you can’t stop.”
In the 2019 documentary ‘Harry’s Heroes’, he opened up about his ongoing battle with addiction.
The father of eight has previously spoken on Sky Sports about his struggles, stating that gambling is the most severe addiction he faces.
He explained: “This is an illness, it’s the worst illness I’ve got personally. People think just because you don’t put anything in your body, just stop it with willpower. You can’t just stop it with willpower, it’s not like that.”
He also shared his experiences on Good Morning Britain, saying: “When you want to get drunk or you want to get high, you have to put stuff into your body. If you don’t pick up that first drink, you are never going to get drunk.
“Gambling, you don’t have to put anything into you. It’s there and it’s just a weird feeling and when it gets hold of you, it just grips you. It’s the people round you as well and it’s just draining, you’re constantly looking at your phone.”
Recently, Merson was the fourth celebrity to leave Strictly Come Dancing, alongside his dance partner Karen Hauer.
They were in a dance-off against JLS’s JB Gill and Amy Dowden, but the judges decided to send the ex-footballer packing.
Strictly Come Dancing continues this Saturday at 6.30pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
Paul Merson: Football, Gambling, and Me is available to catch up now on BBC iPlayer.