Paul Merson competes in Strictly Come Dancing this year and the former Arsenal forward hopes his appearance on the BBC1 show will help others with alcohol and drug addiction
When he was in the grip of addiction, Paul Merson ’s life centered on three things: booze, drugs and gambling.
“Being an addict and a recovering alcoholic myself…. to show people watching this show who have got addictions, that you can go out and do something like this… is so important. Because addiction takes you away from everything. That’s all it ever does. It wants you on your own,” he says. It was a path of self-destruction shared by teammate Tony Adams, who was similarly addicted to alcohol. His fellow Gooner underwent his own stint of Strictly, defying the odds to get through to week eight of the show with partner Katya Jones.
Can he do as well at Tony whose dodgy dad-dancing resonated with the Strictly audience despite the judges’ low scores? He says: "I hope so. I don’t know. I’m not very good. But I’m a trier. It won’t be for lack of trying that’s for sure." Worryingly, the former footballer says he has “never watched the show” as it clashes with his job as a football pundit. He adds: “I’ve never seen it, because it’s on when football is on and my job. To go there today and see it all, I just can’t believe how big the show is. From the outside looking in. I honestly did not realise how big it was. This is like… I’ve played in cup finals and in front of thousands and it’s not like this.
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