Paul Gascoigne says he was banned from every chemist in Newcastle as he tried to get hold of Calpol to fuel his addiction.
The former England and Newcastle footballer opened up about his addictive personality in Thursday's finale of Scared of the Dark, which saw celebrities such as Gazza, Scarlett Moffatt and Chloe Burrows live in the pitch black together. The dad-of-three, who was crowned the winner of the Channel 4 reality show, has battled alcohol addiction and mental health problems.
He revealed that he lied about having nine children in an effort to get Calpol. He said: "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.
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"Calpol has 0.00 and it’s 1% of alcohol. And I thought well if I buy 10 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!"
Gazza has been open about his addiction issues in the past. In 2020 he told GMB he'd had an operation in a bid to combat his alcoholism which involved three anti-alcohol pellets have been placed inside his groin.
While on the Channel 4 show, the former Newcastle United legend struck up a bromance with Max George - The Wanted singer who has also had his own issues with alcohol.
Reflecting on their friendship with Gazza, Max says: “Gazza, I’ve made a friend for life there. I don’t think he even knows actually how much.
"He’s helped me and Gazza was everything and way more you know, really kind. I’ve got a lot of things to sort out in my own life. I can’t stop thinking about Tom [Parker] and feeling all that and being in darkness isn’t nice.”
Gazza fended off competition from seven other famous faces, after spending 180 hours in complete darkness, living, eating, sleeping and completing challenges. Following his win, Paul admitted he had been "nervous" to take part but said the experience had made him "a better person".
The final episode of Scared Of The Dark aired on Thursday on Channel 4, with all five episodes available to watch via All4.
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