Grant Denyer vows to quit alcohol after admitting he has a problem on I’m A Celebrity – but admits the idea of not drinking ‘scares him’
Gold Logie Award winning TV host Grant Denyer has admitted to having issues with alcohol and drinking in excess to cope with anxiety.
And following his confession on Tuesday night’s episode of I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! Australia, Grant has vowed to cut grog out of his life for good.
‘I want to push the button on cancelling it (alcohol) altogether and see how I go,’ the 43-year-old told The Daily Telegraph’s Confidential.
‘I want to push the button on cancelling it’: Grant Denyer (right), 43, has vowed to cut alcohol out of his life after admitting he had a problem and drank in excess. Pictured with wife Chezzi
‘I am super worried why that scares me so much, which probably tells me it is something I need to do. I need to stop, it is not improving my life, in fact it is doing the opposite.
‘I am not an alcoholic, I am a three night a week drinker but it is the amounts that I need to look at and I am not getting anything out of it so that is going to be the new me in 2021.’
On Tuesday night’s episode of I’m A Celebrity, Grant told his campmates he felt anxious and drank to excess prior to appearing on the show.
‘I’d never put two and two together, and I’ve been asking myself this question for, far out. Five years? Do I have a problem? And I think the answer is, I do,’ he confessed.
‘And it was coming in here, watching how I couldn’t control the pace at which I was drinking, because I do everything fast.
‘I was trying to stem the fear and anxiety of what we were about to do and I thought, I think I do that every week.’
Grant then detailed not realising he had a problem, or signs he had a problem, until he ventured onto the show.
Battle: On Tuesday night’s episode of I’m A Celebrity, Grant told his campmates he felt anxious and drank to excess prior to appearing on the show
‘I think I’ve only just realised from coming in here that I drink to lessen anxiety, which I didn’t really realise I had until I saw the pattern of fear coming into here and the anticipation of a new gig and will I fit in? Is it gonna be fun?’ he said.
‘Am I gonna be able to be successful in the challenges? Can I be funny for that long? All of these things, and I just started going like this [mimics drinking].’
Grant also admitted he was often drunk on TV while working as the Sunrise weather presenter from 2004 to 2006, and again from 2010 to 2013.
Inebriated: Grant also admitted he was often drunk on TV while working as the Sunrise weather presenter from 2004 to 2006, and again from 2010 to 2013. Pictured on Sunrise
‘I don’t like my relationship with alcohol… I’ve never said some of these things to my best mate, and some of them not even to my wife,’ he told his teammates.
‘I don’t know what’s happening to me in here, but it’s all coming out. I feel like I’m purging. I feel like purging stuff that I’ve kept down for a long time.’
His comments come four months after speaking about his former addiction to painkillers, which he developed after suffering a back injury.
I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of here! airs Sundays to Thursdays at 7.30pm on Channel Ten
Recovery: His comments come four months after Grant spoke about his former addiction to painkillers, which he developed after suffering a back injury