Neil ‘Razor’ Ruddock was "technically dead for several seconds" during an emergency heart operation.
The 52-year-old former footballer had to stop filming TV show ‘Harry’s Heroes: Euro Having a Laugh’ halfway through to go under the knife, after doctors discovered his resting heart rate was at least 130 beats per minute, when it should’ve been around 60 to 70.
He said: "’Harry’s Heroes’ sent me to a heart surgeon to check everything was alright because I was getting dizzy just running upstairs. I thought, ‘Oh, no, it could be brain trauma after heading too many footballs.’
"But they found it was from my heart beating too fast, so that was a big wake-up call.
"Just going up the stairs it must have been going at 140 or 150 beats a minute – that’s a workout rate. It’s gone back to 60, 70 or 80 beats now when resting
"They also found out my heart had been stopping for up to seven seconds every night."
The former Liverpool defender – who has daughters Pebbles, 13, and Kizzy, nine, with wife Leah – admitted the pacemaker op was the "worst pain of [his] life".
Razor’s op came after years of heavy drinking, and the star admitted he sometimes downed up for four bottles of wine a day, followed by beers and cocktails.
Speaking to the Daily Star Sunday newspaper, he added: "At my worst I was crazy – I was doing three or four bottles of wine a day, easy-peasy, plus spirits, beers, cocktails."
On ‘Harry’s Heroes’, Razor clashed with Paul Merson during an argument over his drinking habits, after former Aston Villa playmaker Merse expressed concern about his pal’s health.
After Paul warned the amount of alcohol he was consuming was killing him, Razor yelled: "Don’t shout at me or I’ll get the hump with you.
"I’ll throw you out the f*****g door. This gives me the hump. F**k off."
Paul, 52 – who has recently recovered from his alcohol and gambling addictions – insisted he just wanted to help his friend.
After the bust-up, he told the camera: "No one wants to die, do they? I’d probably say he’s scared, confused, frightened. With Neil, he’s a tomorrow man. Tomorrow never comes.
"It doesn’t matter if you’re the richest person in the world, or the healthiest, we only get today.
"It’s just winding me up. He’s down there doing bombs and all that, and it’s a joke. He’s sat down with all the lads, and he’s said he’s dying, and they’re drinking with him.
"This is the sad thing, because this is me nine months ago … not knowing what to do, how I’m going to stop. Not seeing any way out. I see that in him now, and that’s why it’s quite hurtful."
Later in the series, Razor headed back to the UK to have a pacemaker op.