Paul Gascoigne has opened up about his ongoing battle with alcoholism, admitting that he will ‘probably die as Gazza’ and that he has ‘nothing to hide’
Paul Gascoigne has opened up about his ongoing battle with alcohol addiction, confessing that he’s unable to explain why he can’t give up drinking.
Speaking candidly to the Mirror, the football legend revealed he continues to grapple with staying sober, despite multiple rehabilitation attempts both in the UK and abroad.
“Jimmy Greaves stopped drinking, but that is Jimmy Greaves,” he said.
“I am not Jimmy Greaves and I am not George Best.
“I don’t get drunk because I hate my mum and dad or I hate the public. It is not about that. I do it for the sake of it. I might regret it. But I don’t think about yesterday, I don’t think about tomorrow. I just think about today and live for today.”, reports the Irish Mirror.
He added with a touch of humour that his devoted mum Carol, 82, remains the only person who still calls him ‘Paul’ rather than ‘Gazza’.
Discussing how his addiction has affected those closest to him, he said: “I have not changed, I cannot change, I would not know how to change.
“I will probably die as Gazza. But I have nothing to hide. The whole country knows what I have done now.
“I drank because I wanted to drink, I regretted the consequences afterwards. Now if I have a relapse, I do not go for weeks on end like I did before. Looking back, I must have hurt my mum and dad. But you do not think about it. The person you hurt the most is yourself.”
Sporting a goatee and looking trim and healthy, he’s been in a reflective frame of mind whilst working on his new book ‘Eight’, published by Reach Sport.
The book promises to reveal the ‘real Gazza for the first time’, looking back on the incredible highs and lows of his life both on and off the pitch.
He talks about his marriage to Sheryl (they haven’t spoken for years, ‘she has her life, and I have mine’, he says); his football career, and his love for Bobby Robson, the legendary manager and Gazza’s mentor at Italia ’90 – still the peak of his fame.
But he is also brutally frank about the lows, including his attempt to ‘save’ fugitive murderer Raoul Moat when he was surrounded by police in Rothbury, Northumberland, shown live on TV, whilst under the influence of cocaine in 2010.
Paul’s late father John had him sectioned under the Mental Health Act during his darkest period, which he describes in the book.
“Even now, I miss my dad,” Paul says.
“He was doing what he thought was best for me at the time.
“I was done with cocaine after that. Maybe it is what I needed.”
It’s rare for Gazza to meet someone who doesn’t know who he is.
When asked what he would say if a stranger asked ‘who is Paul Gascoigne?
‘ He responded: “I would be struggling to say. It is nice sometimes being Paul Gascoigne, but there are downsides. I want to just be me, I don’t want to perform. I want to be sensible… The problem is that I get bored. Nobody knows him, sometimes I don’t even know who he is.”
When finding himself alone in his flat, he regularly heads out into Bournemouth to look after homeless individuals sleeping rough in doorways.
“I try and do three good deeds every day,” he said.
“It was what I learned at Alcoholics Anonymous. On a Sunday, instead of watching TV, I often go and see the homeless. I might give them a sandwich, money, cigarettes.
“They are in doorways, there are so many of them, the police move them, and they may go into Boscombe but then go back into town. So I feel for them and helping them makes you feel good about yourself. I have the means to do it.”
Gazza previously estimated he’d wasted roughly £20m throughout his career whilst battling with alcohol and drug addiction.
His divorce settlement with Sheryl, mother of their son Regan, 26, a dancer, cost him millions.
In his memoir, he discloses how pop legend Robbie Williams once offered him a cheque for £3m.
He declined it because ‘that is how mum and dad’ brought him up.
He claims he also repaid money which the Professional Footballers Association gave him for rehabilitation 14 years ago, around the time he moved to be closer to a clinic in Bournemouth. He kicked off his popular ‘Audience With’ tours for fans back then and quipped: “Nobody could understand a word I was saying.”
The Geordie accent may be as strong as ever, but he regularly performs before packed houses across the country. I briefly played alongside Paul at Redheugh Boys Club in Gateshead, our shared birthplace where we both grew up.
He was merely 12 years old at that time.
Even at such a young age, it was glaringly obvious he was destined for the very top, given his extraordinary talent.
He promptly signed up for Newcastle United as a schoolboy.
As we say goodbye and drop him back at his home in Poole, Dorset, I shout out through the car window: “Look after yourself Paul.”
His retort comes firing back: “You are about 30 years too late for that Jerry,” the nickname I carried all those years ago whilst playing for Redheugh.
Before leaving, he reassures me: “I have had a great life, travelled the world, had everything money can buy.
“I have no regrets.”
And with that, he’s off.
Paul Gascoigne Eight (published by Reach Sport) goes on sale 23 October.
Preorder on Amazon now – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Paul-Gascoigne-Eight-Gazza-Revealed/dp/1916811434..
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