Paul Merson says gambling addiction that cost him ‘millions’ is ‘worse’ than being hooked on alcohol or drugs because it sends you ‘insane’ and has you ‘constantly looking at your phone’
- Ex England and Arsenal midfielder lost £7million on alcohol, drugs and gambling
- Praised last week for an honest account of his addictions on ITV Harry’s Heroes
- Today spoke about how smartphone gambling had made life harder for addicts
Paul Merson has said the gambling addiction that cost him millions is worse than being hooked on alcohol or drugs because it drives you ‘insane’ and has you ‘constantly looking at your phone’.
The 50-year-old former England and Arsenal midfielder, who has also now gone back to Alcoholics Anonymous, notoriously lost £7million on alcohol, drugs and gambling in the 1990s.
He told Good Morning Britain today: ‘I’ve just found that when you want to get drunk or high you have to put stuff in your body. If you don’t have the first drink you don’t get drunk.
‘With gambling you don’t have to put anything in its just there. And it just grips you – you are constantly looking at your phone and it just grips you.’
An emotional Paul Merson wiped away tears in ITV documentary Harry’s Heroes: The Full English, which aired last week
Merson won plaudits for his honesty last week when he revealed on ITV’s Harry’s Heroes that he was still ‘struggling badly’ with a relapse of his gambling addiction.
He told the show’s producers his life had ‘fallen apart’, adding: ‘I’ve just completely lost control, I’ve completely, again. I’m digging a hole – I can’t get out of it. It’s the worst addiction in the world.’
Today he said the easy availability of gambling apps on smartphone was making his addiction hard to manage.
‘I was getting up in the morning and betting on Lithuanian under-20 basketball matches,’ he said.
‘I’ve lost millions. The money’s not the problem it’s the sanity. You go insane. As soon as the bets on you are like “what did I do that for?” You search and search for the bet and then you think “why did I do it?” Then the self-worth comes in and you hate it.’
Merson said he was ‘born with’ gambling addiction, but had seen significant progress in recent months.
‘I’ve been through treatment and everything, I have to keep on going to meetings,’ he said. ‘It was really weird watching it on the telly six months after the actual show.
‘I’m in a much better place today, but to watch yourself six months ago and see where you were, you look back and think, I’m alright now. Then you think, maybe I can have another drink. It was a massive wake-up.’
Last month a study revealed that almost half of online gamblers regularly bet using their smartphone – double the number four years ago, a study has revealed.
Merson today told Good Morning Britain how he had been left ‘gripped’ by his gambling addiction
Merson at a 1995 press conference at London’s Park Court Hotel where he confessed to his addictions. On the right is FA spokesman David Davies
The former Arsenal player is pictured doing a drinking celebration after an FA Cup win against Tottenham Hotspur on April 4, 1993
Merson speaking with GMB’s Piers Morgan, Susanna Reid and Charlotte Hawkins today
And the boom in mobile gambling has helped bookmakers gain an extra 1.6million customers aged under 35, the survey of 4,000 people suggested.
The proportion of online players using mobile phones – 44 per cent – is twice as many as four years ago, and younger customers are most likely to use their phone to gamble on the go. This rises to 55 per cent when smartphone use is taken in conjunction with tablet betting.
Campaigners claimed the figures show that regulation failed to keep up with consumer habits, leaving young people at risk of developing gambling addictions.
How Paul Merson has fought additions for three decades
Paul Merson enjoyed a glittering football career and is still admired by Arsenal fans after scoring 78 goals in 327 games for the club.
But he has faced a troubled personal life, fighting a well-documented addiction to gambling, alcohol and drugs for three decades which drove him to brink of suicide.
Merson, who has been married three times and has six children, had claimed in 2003 to have won his battles with alcohol and cocaine.
Merson is pictured with his now ex-wife Lorraine and their sons Charlie, Ben and Sam at home in St Albans, Hertfordshire, in 1995. Sam is now a footballer for St Albans City FC
But he admitted he was still plagued by his gambling problem, and narrowly avoided losing his home five years later after falling behind with his mortgage payments.
In his 2012 memoir, How Not To Be A Professional Footballer, revealed he had lost some £7million to bookmakers over the years.
In the 1989/90 season at Arsenal, he was banned from Highbury for two weeks amid reports of drinking and gambling debts.
In November 1994, he confessed he had a cocaine habit. He entered an addiction unit and was released six weeks later on the condition he attended outpatient therapy and support groups.
The Football Association later said cocaine was not his main problem – it was drinking and gambling.
Merson is now a pundit on Sky Sports Soccer Saturday. This image shows his reaction to Manchester City dramatically winning the Premier League title against QPR in May 2012
In February 2012, he was given a 14-month-driving ban after pleading guilty to drink-driving following a motorway crash.
Merson crashed his Mercedes ML350 into a 38-tonne lorry after falling asleep at the wheel on the M40 near Warwick in October 2011.
The attacking midfielder made 21 appearances for England and represented his country at Euro 1992 and World Cup 1998.
He also played domestically for Brentford, Middlesbrough, Aston Villa, Portsmouth and Walsall.