Paul Gascoigne has told how he used Calpol to fuel his addiction and was banned from every chemist in Newcastle.
The former England footballer, 55, opens up about his addictive personality in tonight's finale of Scared of the Dark, which has seen celebs such as Gazza, Scarlett Moffatt and Chloe Burrows live in the pitch black together.
The dad-of-three has publicly battled alcohol addiction and mental health problems, and he revealed how he lied about having nine children in a bit to get Calpol.
He told the Scared of the Dark cameras: “Unfortunately, I’ve got this addiction personality. I stopped going to rehab for stupid reasons you know. I was like, that’s the addict side of us so I went for Calpol.
"Calpol has 0.00 and it’s 1% of alcohol. And I thought well if I buy ten bottles, that’s like having nearly a pint. I was going around chemists and saying listen, I didn’t wanna tell anyone but I’ve got nine kids, I need Calpol.
"They were saying nine kids, what are you doing with nine kids? I went yeah but don’t tell my family. It costs us a lot of money in maintenance. And eventually, I was barred from all the chemists I think in Newcastle!”
Paul has been in rehab a number of times and was sectioned under the Mental Health Act in 2008 and 2014.
The former attacking midfielder previously told the Mirror that he suffered a lifelong fear of the dark. His family urged him not to do the show and there was speculation his previous struggles would see him excluded.
But Paul had a mental health screening before being accepted and insisted he was more than equal to the challenge. He says: “I’ve been scared of the dark since I was a kid. I slept with the lights on.
"As an adult, I slept with the TV on and the sound turned down. I think it’s a fear of the unknown. I think I did the show because I wanted to conquer it.
“But my family thought I was mad. Mam said, ‘Don’t do it, Paul’. One sister said, ‘You can’t do that, you’re s*** scared of the dark’ and my other sister said, ‘But you’re petrified’. I told them I’d be all right.
But I’ll tell you what, I wouldn’t do those first few hours again. I was waiting with Danny and I asked him, ‘We’ll be alright, won’t we?’ He told me, ‘I will, I’m not going in. It’s horrible.’
“Then the lights went out. I nearly collapsed. I was sitting on the floor, crying, saying I wanted to quit. But after the first few hours, I started to get my bearings and I got to grips with it.
“After a few days I was taking the mickey out of the others and having a laugh. People think I’m not mentally strong enough to do something like this, but that’s a load of b*******.”
The final episode of Scared of the Dark airs tonight (Thursday 20 April) at 9pm on Channel 4. Catch up on the first four episode now on All4 .
If you or somebody you know has been affected by this story, contact Alcoholics Anonymous for free support on 0800 9177 650 or email help@aamail.org
