Grant Denyer admits that signing up for I’m a Celebrity made him realise he has a problem with alcohol – after the TV star admitted he was often drunk while hosting Sunrise
Grant Denyer has spoken candidly about his issues with alcohol on Tuesday night’s episode of I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! Australia.
The 43-year-old told his camp mates that in the lead up to appearing on the show, he felt anxious – and drank to excess.
‘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.
Battle: Grant Denyer (pictured) has spoken candidly about his issues with alcohol on Tuesday night’s episode of I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here! Australia
‘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.’
He added: ‘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?
Realised: He told his camp mates that in the lead up to appearing on the show, he felt anxious – and drank to excess. ‘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 said
He went on: ‘I don’t think I get the best out of myself with drinking and I think I need it gone from my life to be able to navigate life a lot better than I have been. I don’t like my relationship with alcohol’
‘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 admitted he was often drunk on TV while working as the Sunrise weather presenter from 2004 to 2006, and again from 2010 to 2013.
‘When I was doing Sunrise weather for years, the amount of times I was probably still drunk on air in the morning was too many,’ he confessed.
He went on: ‘I don’t think I get the best out of myself with drinking and I think I need it gone from my life to be able to navigate life a lot better than I have been.
Inebriated: Grant 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
Acting strangely: Footage of the former weatherman’s final day on Sunrise in 2013 showed Grant looking gaunt, twitchy and distracted as he resigned live on air
‘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.
‘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,’ he concluded.
His comments come just four months after Grant spoke 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 just four months after Grant spoke about his former addiction to painkillers, which he developed after suffering a back injury