MATT Willis has revealed that he became “addicted” to exercise after beating his drink and drug issues.
The Busted star – who is married to TV presenter Emma Willis – said obsession became extreme where he would feel triggered if he missed a gym session.
Matt Willis became ‘addicted’ to exercise after beating his drink and drug struggles[/caption]
“Exercise was a big thing for me… when I found it I was completely and utterly addicted to it,” Matt, 39, said on the Happy Place podcast.
“It was great because everything about it was positive.”
He added: “And then it became a problem where if I didn’t or something got in the way of it I was triggered or I became angry or upset.”
Matt went to London’s Priory Hospital to treat his addiction to alcohol and checked in again a year later for drug abuse.
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Matt – who was the bassist in band Busted from 2000 to 2005 – previously said he would “get high” on his asthma inhaler as a child, and became “a massive alcoholic” who used cocaine in adulthood.
The musician said: “I would have been the same if I worked in Tesco or a bank, I am an addict all the way through…
“I was mildly asthmatic as a kid and I used to hide under my duvet and take as many hits of my inhaler as I possibly could when I was about seven because it would make my head throb, make my lips tingle.
“I’d be getting high in my bed at seven years old so I have always had this in me to find ways to get away from dealing with who I am and how I feel. Quitting drinking was one of the hardest tasks in my life.”
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He added: “I did cocaine a few times every now and then when I was drinking to keep me sober. We’d call it a sharpener, so I’d be a bit p****d, do a couple of lines and go, ‘Oh I’ll be alright”.”
It wasn’t a fun time for the star, who “hated” his addiction and admitted he used because he couldn’t deal with his feelings.
He said: “I hated it, hated everything about cocaine, hated the way it made me feel, hated everything about it but I couldn’t stop doing it which is madness.
“It is my illness. You have this hole and you try and shovel everything in it to fill it but the hole is never ending.”
Matt – who is 13 years sober – said having having his first child changed everything.
“It was like a lightbulb for me, because I realised life wasn’t what I’d thought it was.
“I remember looking at her and going: ‘Oh no… I’ve been getting everything wrong.’
“Suddenly everything became about this little thing who needed us so badly and I was filled with fear and dread and anxiety, and I actually felt very inadequate.
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“I’ll never forget it, because it completely changed me in every possible way and had more of an impact on me than anything ever has. And it continues to.”
Matt and TV presenter wife Emma are parents to Isabelle, 13, Ace, 10, and Trixie, six, and it’s clear that fatherhood has been the making of him.
The Busted star said fatherhood changed his life[/caption]
