She’s the I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! comedian who’s been open about her struggles with alcoholism.
And on Wednesday night’s episode, Fiona O’Loughlin revealed that she had originally been cast for the show two years ago but had to drop out after ‘screwing it all up and going on a bender’.
Speaking candidly to her co-stars, the 54-year-old talked about a 2016 incident that left her in a coma with a seven per cent rate of survival.
Candid: On Wednesday night’s I’m A Celebrity….Get Me Out Of Here, Fiona O’Loughlin opened up about her struggles with alcoholism
‘I had a dodgy heater in my apartment, it was leaking carbon monoxide,’ she shared.
Adding that her youngest daughter Mary kept complaining about the faulty heater, she said the last thing she remembered was going to the dentist.
‘Apparently, they had given me painkillers for the tooth. They were all gone. I mean complete organ failure,’ she added.
Dark past: ‘I don’t remember anything. They thought it was a suicide attempt’
‘I don’t remember anything. They thought it was a suicide attempt.’
And after waking up two-and-a-half weeks later, and still to this day having no recollection of the incident, Fiona vowed she would ‘never drink again’.
‘This disease is shrouded in shame,’ she continued.
Family: Fiona is a mother of five children (pictured: her two sons and three daughters)
‘It is particularly shameful being a mother. When you’re a chronic alcoholic like I am, there is only three endings. There is death, jail or institution. That is it.’
Speaking to Woman’s Day, the mother-of-five said she hoped her appearance on I’m A Celebrity would assist her on her path of long term sobriety.
After her coma Fiona entered rehab for five months.
She told her campmates she felt that being in the jungle and therefore disconnected from everything would help her.
Past experience: After her coma Fiona entered rehab for five months. She told her campmates that being in the jungle and therefore disconnected from everything would help her
Working through it: Although she had her last drink six months ago, Fiona told Confidential that alcohol will always be on her mind
‘It’s like re-calibrating your life, starting everything from scratch,’ she explained.
Although she had her last drink six months ago, Fiona told Confidential that alcohol will always be on her mind.
‘I have an alcoholic mind, I will always have an alcoholic mind,’ she confessed.
‘Untreated addiction only has three endings, and that is death, jail and institution.’
Fiona also revealed she suffered a 10-hour relapse mid-last year, that left her in a place she has vowed never to return to.
‘It was the most horrific drink I’ve ever had because when you drink with knowledge and I had a full lot of knowledge,’ she said.
If you or anyone around you is struggling and/or seeking support for alcholism or substance abuse and addiction call Lifeline on13 11 14.
Working through her demons: Fiona also revealed she suffered a 10-hour relapse mid-last year, that left her in a place that she vowed to never return to again