RTE star Ryan Tubridy was stunned by an Irishman's honesty while talking about his battle with addiction and his road to recovery.
Tubridy had seen Mayo native Cillian Shiel, 32, on First Dates Ireland recently and decided to have him on his radio show for a chat on Thursday morning.
Ryan admitted that from watching the drummer and former model, Cillian "was a good one" and had "kindness in his eyes".
Castlebar man Cillian revealed that he was recovering from alcohol addiction.
He spoke candidly about how his drinking habits left him in a dark place before he finally decided to quit alcohol and return home to Ireland.
The ex-model spent 10 years living in London trying to make it in the music industry during which he was partying most nights.
He told Ryan Tubridy on RTE Radio One this morning: "One of the first jobs I got was with Kylie Minogue and gave me the confidence to go for loads of auditions.
"I was playing in lots of bands, was being hired to go into the studio as a session drummer.
"My lifestyle was always clouded by excess, I would have been noticing it a lot when I was around 25.
"It came to a point where the creative side of both jobs took a back seat, I became more interested in drinking and other stuff.
"Drinking in the morning and being ok with it. (was acceptable)
"Your life is chaos but you are just avoiding it.
"You would boast about it just to brush it off."
He moved to London after doing his Leaving Cert so he could go to music university where he was studying the drums.
"Lying about my drinking was something I've doing for as long as I was drinking.
"There was times I stole drinks from the supermarket when I was desperate."
Cillian started to have seizures and people he was living with had to find his parents on Facebook.
His father decided it was time to come home and Cillian moved back to Castlebar in Co Mayo.
He went into an assesment with Hope House and stayed there for a month.
Cillian's father was very supportive and encouraged him to keep going.
He went to Navan for treatment but his father tragically passed away while he was in there for treatment.
His dad passed away aged 60 in April, 2019.
Cillian said he decided to quit alcohol following the death of his father, who he described as his best friend.
"I wanted to do this for him while he was alive.
"I was so determined to do it. That's what keeps me going. He's with me and I know what he wanted for me."
Ryan and his listerners were full of praise for the 32-year-old for overcoming addiction and speaking openly about his struggles.
Tubridy said: "You are really brilliant, I hope you stay as strong as you sound.
"It's a great story, struggle and hopefully now survival."
Cillian is two years sober and has started seeing somebody during the last few weeks.
