James 'Arg' Argent has faced a lot of demons over the years.
The former TOWIE star has bravely opened up about his battles with addiction and how he's struggled with his fluctuating weight.
Things seemed to be going brilliantly for the reality star, 34, after her underwent a gastric sleeve operation and managed to lose 13 stone.
But friends are concerned once more after having to call paramedics to his home.
Sources have said that Arg is "doing fine despite the scare" and that he didn't require any hospital treatment.
Hopefully he'll be fine after already overcoming so much...
Addiction troubles and locking himself up at home alone
Arg has publicly opened up about his troubles with cocaine, and has been to rehab more than once.
In 2020, he shared how he'd spent the previous Christmas alone eating a kebab as his cocaine abuse overwhelmed him.
He told The Sun: "I’ll never forget on Christmas Day sitting on my own eating a kebab for dinner. At that point I knew that was the moment where I said I need to get better and sort this out. You couldn’t get any lower."
The following day he phoned friend and co-star Mark Wright and begged him for help, with Mark springing into action.
"I just knew that if I don’t get better and I don’t get it right now, I’m gonna die," Arg added.
Arg admitted in 2020 that he'd nearly died after suffering two drug overdoses while he was hooked on cocaine.
Both incidents had taken place the previous year, and his loved ones had been so worried that he'd die that they called for an ambulance both times.
Arg, who was dating Gemma Collins at the time, said: "It was the night before my birthday and I said to myself, 'Right, ‘I’m not going to do drugs tonight because I want to see my family on my birthday and spend time with Gemma'.
"But my addiction was so bad I couldn’t stop myself. I started early and was in a terrible place. I locked myself in, phone was off and my parents and friends were banging on the door again.
"Gemma called the ambulance and they broke through the door and did all the checks on me and this time they said, 'There’s absolutely no way you’re staying here'.
"They said, 'You’ve done so much and your heart is so f***** you could die. You have to come to hospital'. I’ll never forget being in the ambulance with my poor mum."
Arg once said he was using drugs - as well as booze and food - to cover up the heartbreak he felt through struggling to hold down a romance.
He said he could often spend up to £500 a week on hard drugs and admitted he was addicted to cocaine for seven years.
Arg said he hit rock bottom when police had to break down his door.
He said on This Morning : "The first incident happened around the end of October. I was the biggest I’d ever been, I was 23 and a half stone, I hated everything about myself. I was at an all-time low. Around that period, I was using drugs for two or three days straight in my house. I’d locked myself in my house, the house was pitch black.
"I’d bolted all my doors, I turned my phone off. People tried to call me for days, they were slamming on the door and screaming to open up, I wouldn't… Gemma felt the need to call the ambulance, and the ambulance, alongside the police put the door through and they did tests and they sat with me for a good few hours and they decided that I could have been left, that I was okay to be at home.
"I said to myself, 'Oh my God, police are outside, ambulance, paparazzi.' I was absolutely freaking out."
He added: "When I use, it’s never rock and roll… it’s always extremely lonely, isolated, me having awful paranoia, psychosis, shivering, shaking, blood coming down my nose.
"I’m sweating, it’s just a horrific place to be in. I said after that I’ll never use again, two days later, I'm using again because it’s just crazy."
Fluctuating weight
Arg has lost a whopping 13 stone after doctors warned him that he was in danger of dying when he tipped the scales at 27 stone.
After undergoing a gastric sleeve operation, Arg adopted a much healthier lifestyle with a better diet and more exercise.
He said at the time: "I don’t want to die. An op is the only way I can lose weight."
He added to The Sun: "I see pictures of myself and it’s too upsetting. The other day I had to ask my manager to put my shoes on for me because I just couldn’t do it — my belly is too big. I can’t do up my own shoe laces."
More recently, he actually said he had lost a bit too much weight.
Transform Group, who performed the surgery on Arg, said they were concerned he had lost too much weight when he fell to 14st.
Arg told the Mirror: "But they are pleased for me and are in regular contact, taking blood tests to make sure I’m getting enough nutrients.
"I’ve lost a little bit more than what I wanted to, so I want to get more toned, bulk up a little bit and maybe even put on half a stone."
Arg had previously told how he'd spiralled to 23.5 stone at the height of his drug addiction.
He'd lost a considerable amount of weight after going to a rehab facility in Thailand, but had struggled to keep it off.
He once explained: "I’d feel down so I’d start using drugs at 9pm until 6am, not eating a thing.
"Then I’d wake up, feel low and be absolutely starving and I would binge on everything from fizzy drinks, burgers, fast food, crisps, snacks, pizzas, takeaways to the point where I couldn’t possibly eat any more to feel better.
"Then I’d look in the mirror, see I’m the biggest I’ve ever been, then think, 'When is a suitable time for a dealer to drop me off'. It was a never-ending tale of destruction."
Last year, Arg told how gym closures due to the lockdown had left him feeling lonely and struggling to control his weight.
"I’d made some progress last year with my weight loss as I was enjoying boxing and going swimming — but all of a sudden I could no longer do that," he said.
"I don’t have a routine anymore without the gym and I spend a lot of time alone.
"I’m bored and have more time on my hands as all my gigs are cancelled. I have no wife, girlfriend or children to talk to and it gets lonely, so I do turn to food. I turn to food when I’m happy, too.
"I’ve had to delete the food delivery apps off my phone, otherwise it’s too easy to order whatever I fancy — usually fizzy drinks, chewy sweets, ice cream, chocolate, pizza."
* If you're struggling and need to talk, the Samaritans operate a free helpline open 24/7 on 116 123. Alternatively, you can email jo@samaritans.org or visit their site to find your local branch
