Paul Gascoigne has won Channel 4's Scared of the Dark as he says the show has "bought his smile back".
Gazza was selected as the winner of the Channel 4 show, which was fronted by Danny Dyer. He was chosen for the top prize, as the other celebrities rushed to congratulate him on his success. All the stars were kept in the dark for several days - with Scarlett Moffatt, Chris McCausland, Donna Preston, Chloe Burrows, Max George and Nicola Adams all left standing.
Chris Eubank exited the day before the end of the experiment as Danny went to announce the winners.
"It’s time to announce the winner. The person you have chosen as the winner of Scared of the Dark is… Paul ‘Gazza’ Gascoigne," Danny shared as he announced the former footballer had taken the top spot.
Speaking about his win, Paul said he is a "better person" following his time in the dark.
"People always question my mental strength but my success on this series proves that I am strong. I was nervous going in there but having got this far on the series made me the happiest man around. I’m so happy. It’s unbelievable," he said.
"I’ve got my smile back. I’m a better person. I got electrocuted and got shot with a cannonball in the bollocks. I f***ing fell backwards. I thought I was 50 foot up in the air and I went through all that. So to come out the other side and to be smiling, is such an amazing achievement and to win it is like the most unbelievable feeling, it’s just fantastic."
He added: "I’m really honoured to have won but in my eyes, all my fellow Scared of the Dark celebrities are winners. They all did really well and I really enjoyed spending those eight days getting to know them in the dark. We worked so well as a team."
The other celebrities went on to praise Gazza's success.
"This journey for him has been really, really hard and I think he just needs to be really proud of himself," Donna Preston said as Chris McCausland added: "He just opened himself up and laid himself out for everyone to see."
Nicola Adams shared: "Paul you got my vote buddy," as Chloe Burrows added: "The way that he has been so open about his emotion and talking about you know his mental health, I feel like that’s probably the most remarkable thing that’s happened.”
Danny Dyer then initiated a cuddle between them all, saying he had been "dying for this".
