A singer has opened up about the moment he was banned from ITV’s Loose Women
Pop sensation Kavana has claimed he was handed a ban from Loose Women due to his backstage antics.
The 90s star, whose real name is Anthony Gerard Kavanagh, appeared on the daytime programme in 2007 for an interview and live performance, but confessed that things went drastically wrong, resulting in him being reportedly barred from returning to the ITV talk show.
The singer, 47, who is best recognised for his Top 10 smash I Can Make You Feel Good, revealed in his new autobiography Pop Scars the full extent of his addiction battles during his career peak, reports the Mirror.
He penned: “I can’t remember much of my ‘performance’ on Loose Women apart from the odd flashback, which every time one comes, I slug a mouthful of beer at the harrowing thought. When someone, especially your new TV and theatre agent, leaves you a voicemail at 10am saying it’s urgent, it’s usually not the best news, is it?”
READ MORE: Loose Women’s Ruth Langsford opens up on ’emptiness’ after son Jack left homeREAD MORE: ITV Loose Women stars heartbroken as they bid farewell to beloved colleague
Recounting the phone call with his representative that followed, Kavana reveals he was informed: “I’m afraid they’re not happy with you. They have given you a lifetime ban on Loose Women. You can never go on again.”
Kavana also remembered that executives from the ITV chat show were far from pleased with how he had ‘bolted’ from the set for a quarter of an hour whilst crew members frantically searched for him, eventually tracking him down in a nearby pub with mere minutes remaining before his scheduled appearance.
He further disclosed that programme makers were startled when he quizzed then-panellist Carol McGiffin about intimate details of her personal life.
He went on to say that his representative told him, “You then had to be escorted off the premises and helped into the car by the driver, who, by the way, nearly didn’t agree to take you, due to you being so drunk. You then insisted he reroute the booking and take you all the way to Soho and drop you there!”
Earlier this year, Kavana appeared on fellow ITV Daytime programme Lorraine, where he discussed the absence of understanding surrounding mental health during the period he rose to stardom.
Chatting to stand-in presenter Christine Lampard, Kavana said: “A memoir can be about anything, and although it does talk about fame, it’s a lot about what happens after fame to someone. It starts when I’m 18, and talks about my journey, my rollercoaster through 90s pop.”
Discussing that “rollercoaster”, Kavana addressed the “dark times” he encountered. He revealed: “In those days, late 90s, there was no talk about mental health, we didn’t have a word for stuff like that, or bulimia, I’m not saying I struggled very much with that but I was very conscious with how I looked, and also I was in the closet and hiding my sexuality, I didn’t have any advice on what to say or what not to say.
“For me, because I didn’t know it at the time, but I am an alcoholic, I found alcohol, which was medicine. It completely took away any fear, any anxiety, it became my boyfriend, it became my medicine, and it worked for a long, long time.”
Addressing the audience, he then encouraged anyone battling with alcohol to seek assistance, stating: “Three years ago, before I got sober, I would have to drink, not because I wanted to get drunk, not because I wanted to have fun, but because I needed it as important as oxygen to get through the day.
“If anyone is watching this, there is help out there. I’d say my DMs are open, I can try and give some advice, but there is help. Speak to somebody, don’t be ashamed, because once I surrendered, that’s when the light got in. And I’ve been trying to write this for 10 years, and it wasn’t until I got sober that it happened.”
Belfast Live has reached out to ITV for comment.
Loose Women airs at 12.30pm on ITV on weekdays.
#Loose #Women #lifetime #ban #pop #star #offcamera #behaviour
