Gazza's torment laid bare - 'rehab connoisseur', loneliness and drastic surgery

06 March 2024 , 14:14

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Paul 'Gazza' Gascoigne has opened up about his booze battle (Image: Adam Gerrard / Daily Mirror)

Paul Gascoigne has confirmed he is back in AA after battling years of addiction issues.

One of the most gifted footballers of his generation, the former, footballer known affectionately as Gazza, has revealed he is homeless and living with his agent Katie Davies in Poole amid a continuing struggle with alcoholism.

In a glittering career, he won 57 caps and made 391 club appearances for teams that included Newcastle, Tottenham, Everton, Middlesbrough, Glasgow Rangers and Lazio. But his success and talent have often been overshadowed by his demons.

Gascoigne, 56, has been in and out of rehab several times over the decades, and first started therapy in October 1998 when he was admitted into Priory Hospital after a drinking session that saw him neck 32 shots of whisky and left him at "rock bottom". Tragically, he has been sectioned more than once over fears for his mental health, and has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

Back in 2017, representatives confirmed he had again entered a rehabilitation centre in a bid to stop drinking alcohol. And in 2020 he told the Mirror that he was finally at peace after undergoing an operation to have anti-boozing pellets sewn into his stomach. He enjoyed a period of sobriety but has since relapsed.

'I stopped drinking booze on dates and it made life much more exciting'

Paul Gascoigne had a glittering career in football (Getty)

Making light of his back and forth to rehab, the star once told the Mirror: "You have connoisseurs of wine. I am a connoisseur of rehabs. I've been for Calpol, I've been for Red Bull, for laxatives – once I just went for a holiday." But in November 2023, Gazza opened up about the toll of his issues with control and consequent loneliness.

Speaking in Vinnie Jones' TV series, Vinnie Jones In The Country, he said: "Thing is, once I start, that's it." After the ex-Wimbledon man implied he too had experienced that same feeling, Gascoigne added: "I cannot stop, it's a nightmare. It wasn't so much the drink, it was the consequences, Vinnie. God, f****** hell, the consequences. The thing is, when you're in it, you're in it. Do you know what I mean? A nightmare. And then you become a loner, no one wants to speak to you."

However, he finally found relief following his life-changing op in 2018, when he told the Mirror: "I'm in a better place – it’s the happiest I’ve been for many years. I’m content now, happy in myself. I’ve just had my first holiday in 15 years in Tenerife, and I’m enjoying myself for the first time in a very long time."

He explained that it had helped him change his old ways, as the pellets cause you to feel sick if you have too much alcohol. He added: "It means you can have a beer or a glass of wine and socialise, but you cannot have any more. As soon as you touch drugs or spirits it makes you feel sick. I just want to go and get drunk sometimes, and that’s what I have to stop. One drink can be too many, and then 50 is not enough."

At the time, the former footballer said that he was able to walk down the supermarket aisle without being tempted and acknowledged that he could now "control that urge".

Sadly, though, since the collapse of his marriage to wife Cheryl in 1998, he hasn't been able to find love again. He previously told the Mirror: "I haven’t been in a long-term relationship for more than 20 years... My problem is that I constantly do things off the cuff. I just don’t think about what happens next, and that can be hard for others. Like everything I do, I cannot do it in moderation. I’ll be fly fishing until I’ve had enough, if I play golf I’ll do it for days on end. It’s my addictive side. That is my demon, my obsessive personality."

Gazza is still struggling with alcoholism (Getty Images)

Most recently, in an appearance on the High Performance Podcast, the star revealed his struggles are far from over. "Last year wasn't brilliant, was off and on for a couple of months," he explained.

"I went to a meeting the other night so that was alright. Just an AA meeting. I went with a friend and that was okay. They're alright, harmless. I called Katie up in November a few years ago crying my eyes out. What I put myself through and other people, jail and rehab - taking cocaine off toilet seats - and then I'm asked to be an ambassador for my country, I didn't know whether to laugh or cry."

Gascoigne also admitted he is now a "sad drunk" and no longer goes out to pubs and bars to drink. "I used to be a happy drunk. I ain't anymore. I'm a sad drunk. I don't go out and drink, I drink indoors," he added. "People know Paul Gascoigne but Gazza, no one knows. Even me sometimes. I've spent a lot of years being down, when I did my ligaments and then my kneecap, I missed four years of football.

"I would've got 100 caps (for England). I try not to get down because the world's already down enough. And when I'm really down, that's when I pick up a drink to cheer myself up. I don't think I let any managers down, or the players or the fans you know.

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"If there was anyone I let down, it was myself. But more the drinking side of it, when I finished playing. If I want to make it a bad day, (all I need to do) is) go down the pub. If I want it to be a good day, get my flying rod out and go fishing. It's not the drinking, it's the afterwards. Looking at my phone after and seeing 30 messages or missed calls, I know I'm in trouble. But I've been alright."

If you need help with a drinking problem either phone Alcoholics Anonymous' national helpline FREE on 0800 9177650, contact by email: [email protected]

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