Lee Ryan has made a public apology for his “inappropriate” behaviour, which led to him being arrested on a British Airways flight from Glasgow last week. The Blue star said following the incident he is going to “seek professional help” after kicking off when he was refused alcohol on the flight to London City Airport.
Lee is said to have launched a foul-mouthed tirade at the cabin crew when they didn’t serve him booze. When the plane landed in London, the 39-year-old was handcuffed and arrested on suspicion of public order offences. He was later released on bail pending further investigation, but revealed it had been a wake-up call to address his issues.
A statement on Blue’s official Instagram page said: “A Note from Lee. Over the last few days, I have had a lot of time to think about my behaviour and how it affects people around me. As it has been well documented I have always had my struggled with alcohol and often say or do silly things as a result of that, which in turn has caused upset for myself and those around me. For that I want to apologise to everyone I have upset or offended.”
Directly addressing the incident on the plane, Lee continued: “Last week, I acted inappropriately on a flight to London and I want to say sorry to the airline staff, everyone on the flight, as well as my band mates, my family and our fans. The time has come for me to take ownership of the root cause of these problems and for that reason I am reducing my schedule for the time being to seek professional help and spend time with my family.
“I am aware of my behaviour affects others and by starting this journey of working on my mental health I hope to emerge a better person for it.” He signed off saying: “Thank you to everyone that has sent me messages of support and I am sorry to everyone I have let down. Lee x.”
Lee’s arrest comes just weeks after Blue released their new album following a five-year break. Prior to this, he has been open about his struggles with booze and admitted turning to the bottle after finding the pressures of fame – and his 2013 split from long-term girlfriend Sammi Miller – too much.
Describing himself as an "alcoholic for a good ten years" , he previously told The Mirror: “I was really, really bad on drink. I was a hardened drinker.
"I remember once picking up a bottle of Jack Daniel’s and downing it in one. I turned to drink to numb the pain. I thought it was the answer. Basically I was drinking to cope with the sadness. I’d go on binges and stay up for days, just drinking.
“On one occasion I went from bar to bar, on my own, getting hammered. I burst out crying to someone in the street, a random stranger who asked if I was OK. I started telling them all my problems about my relationship, my life and how it was getting me down. It was awful.
"Then one morning, I woke up having been out all night, and Duncan caught me going through his cupboards, looking for more drink. He just looked at me, turned round and said, ‘Right, you’re going to rehab.'"
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