Richard Bacon has opened up about his ongoing addiction to alcohol and how his drinking has negatively impacted his marriage.
The former Blue Peter presenter – who was famously sacked from the CBBC show in 1998 after he admitted taking cocaine – discussed his battle with drink and drugs on BBC Radio 5 Live’s Hooked podcast.
Bacon, 43, revealed that his addiction has led to “dangerous” moments over the years, including him disappearing for entire nights.
"I’ve always been bad at learning from mistakes, I’ve been through periods where it’s been dangerous and I’ve gone missing for a night," Bacon said.
"That’s certainly not the place I’m in now, but I have come close to losing everything again and pushing things too far with my wife.
"That’s one of the reasons I went to AA [Alcoholics Anonymous] for a period. When you’re an addict you end up lying and the lies find you out."
Bacon continued by explaining that his struggle with drink and drugs had previously been so bad that he often feared he could destroy his marriage.
The Good Morning Britain presenter married Rebecca McFarlane in 2008 and they have two children, Arthur and Ivy.
“We’ve done therapy together and we’ve had conversations where I thought, ‘Oh God is my whole marriage going to end?!’” Bacon said of his relationship.
“She would like me to do AA all the time, and I just don't. But I have said I will spend more time with our therapist examining my relationship to drink.
"We're in a good place at the moment but once you have accepted you're an addict to some degree the danger is always there, isn't it?"
Bacon – who was put in an induced coma last year after falling ill during a flight from Los Angeles to London – admitted he still drinks alcohol and described his way of managing his addiction as “delusional”.
“I don’t drink most of the time and I do have the odd drink here and there. I try to manage it,” Bacon said.
“It is probably delusional to think that that is sustainable.”
He added that while many alcoholics drinks to “numb pain” he feels at his most vulnerable when things are going well.
“If I am excited or happy about something I am more likely to go too far,” Bacon explained.
"When I've been through periods of my life where I have been using cocaine, it's only [after] two or three drinks where I quite fancy that as well."
