Noel Edmonds recorded heartbreaking goodbye messages for his four daughters before he tried to kill himself.
The TV host was brought to the ‘brink of emotional annihilation’ 12 years ago, after his business empire collapsed, due to corrupt financiers plundering his fortune.
Edmonds felt so low he decided to take his own life, writing a letter to his ex-wife and making audio notes for his daughters, Charlotte, Lorna, Olivia and Alice.
Noel Edmonds recorded heartbreaking goodbye messages for his four daughters before he tried to kill himself
In an emotional interview for ITV, the Deal or No Deal presenter said: ‘My world imploded. And I lost my home. I went to a very dark space.
‘The only way I can describe it is it is the darkest space that the human mind ever occupies.
‘I wrote a letter to my now ex-wife explaining as best I could why I’d reached the end, and I recorded little dictaphone messages to my daughters, basically saying goodbye.’
After recording the messages for his family, Edmonds went to wood near his home in Devon, with a bottle of vodka and prescription pills.
Noel Edmunds discussed his battle with depression during an emotional interview with ITV
Edmonds with three of his daughters at the BAFTAs in 2006, just a year after he tried to take his own life
He said: ‘The fact that I did not become another suicide statistic is solely due to the swift response of a Devon ambulance crew and the compassionate support of the Priory in Bristol.’
Edmonds said his business collapse cost him his: ‘marriage, my family, my businesses, my longstanding friend and business partner; my income, my investments, my self-respect, my reputation, my privacy, my physical and mental health.
‘It cost me my security, my image rights, my collection of classic cars – and very nearly my life.’
Edmonds hit rock bottom after his business, Unique Group, was devastated by financial fraud at the hands of the HBOS bank. Left, Edmonds with wife, Liz Davies
Edmonds hit rock bottom after his business, Unique Group, was devastated by financial fraud at the hands of the HBOS bank.
The TV personality is now seeking £73million compensation, with plans to sue Lloyds, who bailed out HBOS during the financial crisis.
The former HBOS financiers were jailed earlier this year for carrying out a £245 million loans scam that destroyed several businesses, including that of Edmonds, before they squandered the profits on high-end prostitutes and luxury holidays.
Lloyds, which rescued HBOS during the financial crisis, said in April it would begin making compensation offers to fraud victims in May from a £100 million pot, with payments expected to begin in June.