\n
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.<\/p>\n
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.<\/p>\n
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.<\/p>\n
Your support makes all the difference.<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nRead more<\/span><\/svg><\/span><\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nPaul Gascoigne has opened up about his \u201crock bottom\u201d moment. <\/p>\n
The former England midfielder has been candid about his struggles with alcohol addiction and mental health over the years. <\/p>\n
In a new interview with The Sunday Times<\/em>, Gascoigne, 58, reflected on hitting \u201crock bottom\u201d in 1998 when he contemplated suicide in Stevenage after a four-day drinking binge in Ireland. <\/p>\nAt the time, he was struggling after failing to make the England squad for what would have been his second World Cup. Those feelings were amplified by the death of his close friend from acute alcohol poisoning after they\u2019d been drinking together. An inquest found that the friend had suffered from heart problems. <\/p>\n
Although Gascoigne had been painted in the press as an alcoholic before then, the former footballer said that his alcohol addiction did not become severe until the late 1990s. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere were loads of times I was demonised in the press for being a drinker and often unfairly, in my opinion, but the truth was things didn\u2019t get really bad for me until the late 1990s, when I hit rock bottom,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
The night that he contemplated suicide, he called his then wife Sheryl who \u201ctalked me round\u201d. Gascoigne ended up on suicide watch at the Marchwood Priory Hospital in Hampshire. <\/p>\n
Sheryl and Gascoigne married in 1996 and divorced in 1998. Sheryl went on to publish her 2009 memoir Stronger: My Life Surviving Gazza<\/em>, which detailed their violent relationship. Gascoigne has admitted to domestic violence against his ex-wife. <\/p>\n\n
\n<\/div>
Former England midfielder Paul Gascoigne is recovering at home after a spell in hospital (Mike Egerton\/PA) (PA Archive)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\u201cI will always be sorry for the pain I caused her,\u201d Gascoigne told The Times<\/em> in the new interview. <\/p>\nGascoigne and Sheryl share three children, including 29-year-old Regan who won 2022\u2019s season of Dancing on Ice<\/em>. He is also the adoptive father to Mason and Bianca, born to Sheryl and her first husband Colin Kyle.<\/p>\nEarlier this year, Gascoigne was admitted to hospital in July. The Sun<\/em> reported that he had been found \u201csemi-conscious\u201d at home by a friend in Poole, Dorset. <\/p>\nAt the time, his representative said: \u201cPaul voluntarily went into A&E on Friday after struggling with a throat condition he has had for a while. He is already back home and doing well.\u201d <\/p>\n
Over his career, Gascoigne played at Newcastle, Tottenham, Lazio and Rangers. He helped England reach the semi-finals at the 1990 World Cup and Euro 96. <\/p>\n
If you are experiencing feelings of distress, or are struggling to cope, you can speak to the Samaritans, in confidence, on 116 123 (UK and ROI), email jo@samaritans.org, or visit the <\/em>Samaritans<\/em> website to find details of your nearest branch.<\/em><\/p>\nIf you are based in the USA, and you or someone you know needs mental health assistance right now, call the National Suicide Prevention Helpline on 1-800-273-TALK (8255). This is a free, confidential crisis hotline that is available to everyone 24 hours a day, seven days a week.<\/em><\/p>\nIf you are in another country, you can go to <\/em>www.befrienders.org<\/em> to find a helpline near you.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging. At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story. The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it. Your support makes all the difference. Read more Paul Gascoigne has opened up about his \u201crock bottom\u201d moment. The former England midfielder has been candid about his struggles with alcohol addiction and mental health over the years. In a new interview with The Sunday Times, Gascoigne, 58, reflected on hitting \u201crock bottom\u201d in 1998 when he contemplated suicide in Stevenage after a four-day drinking binge in Ireland. At the time, he was struggling after failing to make the England squad for what would have been his second World Cup. Those feelings were amplified by the death of his close friend from acute alcohol poisoning after they\u2019d been drinking together. An inquest found that the friend had suffered from heart problems. Although Gascoigne had been painted in the press as an alcoholic before then, the former footballer said that his alcohol addiction did not become severe until the late 1990s. \u201cThere were loads of times I was demonised in the press for being a drinker and often unfairly, in my opinion, but the truth was things didn\u2019t get really bad for me until t…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8851,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8850"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8850"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8850\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8851"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8850"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8850"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8850"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}