Famed documentary Louis Theroux has revealed how he got through lockdown in an interview with Ryan Tubridy.
The BBC star is renowned for his TV shows and films on a diverse range of topics, including Tiger King Joe Exotic, Jimmy Saville and Scientology.
He is about to release a new book, Theroux the Keyhole, which is described as "an honest, hilarious and ultimately heartwarming diary of the weirdness of family life in Covid World".
Speaking to the RTE broadcaster on Monday morning, the UK filmmaker shared how "drinking too much" and virtual workouts with Joe Wicks, AKA The Body Coach, kept him going over the last 18 months.
"The original diary was 150,000 words, it was a real diary that I began mid-March 2020 and continued for more than a year," Mr Theroux told Tubs.
"Then I pruned it just to have a little mercy upon my readership back to around 80,000 words but a lot of stuff I took out was, I don't think we need another account of me drinking too much and my wife saying, 'Are you drunk' and me saying, 'I've had a couple but I wouldn't say I'm drunk' and then she would say, 'Why are you slurring your words then?'
"I was definitely drinking too much but not because of a sense of loss of control, it was one of the pleasures of lockdown.
"We had been robbed of so many pleasures when we were cooped up and there was also a lot of stress going on so I would find that it was just something I enjoyed doing and the next morning, I would generally be doing a Joe Wicks workout.
"So I thought it was kind of balancing out in the end."
Mr Theroux said he and his wife Nancy, who he calls his "rock", had "a few lively discussions" during the pandemic, especially over his workout habits.
"Funny enough, my Joe Wicks obsession became a trigger for her," he explained.
"I was doing [the exercises] with no shirt on, because you sweat, and I was in my socks and underpants leaping around and sweating onto the carpet.
"I can understand, she found that annoying."
It was the fact he was doing the workouts when other chores needed to be done around the home that perturbed her the most, Mr Theroux added.
"I would say, notwithstanding the untold liver damage from boozing, on the outside at least, I looked very physically fit and feel as though I'm on top of my game," he said.
It comes as Joe Wicks, who gained worldwide fame during lockdown, will revisit his youth in an upcoming documentary produced by Mr Theroux.
The BBC show, Joe Wicks: Mental Health, My Family and Me, details his troubled childhood and family life and will be broadcast next month.
