John Altman once sold his blood for food after running out of money during a drug fulled trip to India.
The former ‘EastEnders’ actor – who played Nick Cotton on and off from 1985 to 2015 – has opened up about going to a Chinese opium den when he was 18 years old before having "beautiful hallucinations", and he admitted his trip was "the site of many adventures".
Writing in his autobiography ‘The Nick of Time’, he said: "Calcutta, now Kolkata, was the site of many adventures. I went to a Chinese Opium Den.
"Two guys took me in a rickshaw to a rundown tower block where we ended up in a room of elderly Chinese men reading newspapers.
"I expected something a bit more like a Fu Manchu film."
He admitted he was sick outside, before returning to his "shabby" accommodation.
He added: "I had two or three pipes. Outside, I threw up – short sharp vomit."
John – now 68 and sober – soon ran out of money and was unable to keep up with the costs of his hostel
He revealed: "I had no alternative but to beg. I also gave blood and was given five rupees, a boiled egg and a banana."
On Thursday night (30.04.20), John will be seen returning to India alongside Britt Ekland, Susie Blake and Duncan Bannatyne for the BBC’s ‘Real Marigold Hotel’.
The reality travel show – which is loosely based on the 2011 comedy of the same name – follows the older stars as they explore the country and decide whether retiring to India would suit them.
John recently admitted the experience gave him a chance "to reflect over how the last 50 years I’ve changed, and an extraordinary time it’s been".
John Altman once sold his blood for food
