Paul Merson’s Strictly fare won’t suit him after battle with addiction | TV and radio Show and television

Arsenal icon Paul Merson is fighting to stay on Strictly Come Dancing with a charming quick step.

Skating across the thin ice during the nerve-wracking Week 3 shootout, the former England star found himself on the edge of the tense dance. However, he won a cliffhanger, turning in another week of dancing as the judges favored him over Toyah Willcox, who was shown the door.

However, regardless of the outcome, Merson admits he is relishing his time on the hit BBC series, finding joy amid previous personal struggles he has bravely tackled.

The sports commentator has openly shared his past battles with addiction, exposing his demons of gambling, alcohol and drugs in hopes of empowering others struggling with similar conditions through his heartwarming participation in program

“Being an addict and a recovering alcoholic … to show people who watch this show who have addictions, that you can go out and do something like this … it’s very important,” Merson said. “Because addiction takes you away from everything. That’s all it does. It wants you on your own,” reports Wales Online.

In a move that diverges from his isolated struggles of the past, he articulated his new boldness: “Now I’m going in front of millions of people doing something I’m not very good at. I used to think, ‘I can’t do things.’ like that,’ but now I have a chance to try it.’

Merson’s struggle with gambling and alcoholism is no secret, and his public outcry over changes within the gambling industry follows after he confessed to losses of up to £7m attributed to his addiction during three decades

He is now banned from all bookmakers and reveals that his winnings, including the six-figure sum he will receive from his appearance on Strictly, are now being transferred directly to his wife Kate to prevent her wasting them on gambling random

He confessed that his gambling problems led him to contemplate suicide “every day”, revealing to talkSPORT that he only felt relief when he had “nothing left”.

“When I got to zero I said, ‘I don’t have to do this anymore,'” he expressed. “How crazy is that? I was playing for Aston Villa playing away at Charlton. No one ever shared a room with me because I played and I never slept in the afternoon and I wanted to break my fingers so I couldn’t pick up the phone. up, that’s how bad the compulsion was.”

In another candid revelation, he also admitted his struggles persisted during the Covid-19 lockdowns as he gambled a £160,000 family home deposit on table tennis bets.

Earlier this year, a proud Merson announced that he has been clean and sober from alcohol and drugs for five years, having also struggled with those addictions during his career. In 1994 he confessed in a press conference that he had an addiction to cocaine, with the intervention of the FA and sent him to rehabilitation.

Writing in the Mail, he recalled how he would take drugs before training, while his addiction also led him to trade club merchandise to pay off mounting debts.

The footballer candidly confessed in his book: “I started going to the pub all night in Smithfield Market. Drinking alone and blowing toilets,” and further revealed, “I took a black cab at 8 in the morning to get me to practice and even have a couple of big hits sitting in the back.”

He also reflected on the darkest times, saying: “I had bookies chasing me, dealers chasing me. I settled a cocaine debt by handing in my Arsenal blazer and reporting it stolen. The paranoia took over.”

Now leading a different life, the former England and Arsenal star is enjoying a happier existence. After a career that spanned clubs including Middlesbrough, Aston Villa and Portsmouth, Paul Merson is now happily married, with an estimated net worth of around £12m.

Marking their eight-year wedding anniversary with wife Kate this summer, the couple have three children: Freddie, Sienna and Sadie. Before finding stability, Merson’s first marriage to childhood sweetheart Lorraine Costin ended in 2001 amid revelations of his gambling, a union that produced three children.

His subsequent marriage to Louise Bache, with whom he had twin daughters, Molly and Maisie, dissolved in 2013 due to addiction problems.

When asked about her dancing skills during the ‘Strictly’ premiere, she quipped: “I’ve danced three times, they were all at my weddings!”