Adrian Chiles says he is "dependent" on alcohol and was diagnosed with anxiety after being axed from ‘Daybreak’.
The TV presenter and his ‘The One Show’ co-host Christine Lampard were poached from the BBC to present ITV’s breakfast programme in 2010 but both were axed after just one year.
While Adrian continued to present ITV’s football coverage until 2015, he admitted being fired from ‘Daybreak’ took a huge tool on his mental health.
He told Radio Times magazine: "The word ‘alcoholic’ is outdated, but I am undoubtedly dependent on alcohol to some extent – and if I am, thousands of others are. The only days I literally drank nothing were when I was broadcasting in the evening. I needed an actual reason to abstain totally.
"What I would think of as a non-drinking night with a mate would be two pints of Guinness each and perhaps a bottle of wine between us."
"Once I was freed from Daybreak I thought, ‘This will be an easy life now,’ as I was being paid lots of money to present a football match every two weeks. But I felt terrible and felt guilty for feeling terrible.
"I knew if I had a pint or two everything would be fine, so I was self-medicating with alcohol. I was already seeing my GP for high blood pressure and reflux, and on one of those visits I was diagnosed with anxiety."
He began taking the antidepressant citalopram but said his anxiety started to affect his work.
He explained: "[ITV] just didn’t want me to do the football anymore. They fell out of love with me. You’d have to ask them why, but I knew it was coming. Anxiety had begun to affect my work.
"One night at Wembley, I looked at the autocue and I could hardly get the words out."
Adrian, 51, has a new documentary about his dependence on alcohol, ‘Drinkers like Me: Adrian Chiles’ and he was warned during filming that his drinking has put him at risk of cirrhosis, liver failure and death.
He said: "It’s a stigma for a male in male company to drink moderately. Alcohol is the only drug you have to apologise for not taking."
And he also admitted he has previously appeared on TV with a hangover.
He said: "I’ve turned up at work affected by alcohol like everyone and got away with it. The morning after the night before, where I’m fine on air for three hours and then absolutely wasted afterwards. But not pissed on air, unless you can still be drunk at seven in the morning from the night before which I wasn’t… Well, if I blew into a breathalyser I probably was, but I didn’t feel like I was."
Adrian Chiles opens up about alcohol and anxiety battle
