TV FAVOURITE Ant McPartlin has spoken out about his relief at entering rehab, and how an injury from Irish dancing started his painkiller addiction.
Mr McPartlin, one half of TV’s much loved duo, Ant and Dec, entered rehab in June saying he needed 'help' for his painkiller addiction.
Now, after completing two months of treatment, Mr McPartlin told The Sun on Sunday he had a 'massive sense of relief' when he entered the facility, and how he battled to come off 'Hillbilly Crack'.
“There’s a drug called OxyContin, which is opium based – part of the heroin family. It’s a very good painkiller," he said.
“It was decided I’d taken enough Tramadol – they knew I had a problem.
“So I was put on a large dose of that when I went into rehab. Coming off that was horrendous.
“They call it Hillbilly Crack in America – I can see why, Jesus.
“My heart goes out to anybody who has been on it for a long time unaware that it’s very difficult to come off it. There’s irritation, scratching, sleepless nights, sweating."
He added: “From the moment I went in there was a massive sense of relief because they didn’t have control over me any more.
“When I first went in I was so bad I was just happy to have someone looking after us.
“They changed all the meds – started managing it.”
Mr McPartlin said its was an injury sustained during an Irish dancing stint which led to his painkiller addiction (Picture: Ben Pruchnie/Getty Images)Mr McPartlin, who has roots in Co. Leitrim, also said that his addiction to painkillers started when he sustained a serious injury to his knee while Irish dancing.
He said: “Three years ago we were doing Saturday Night Takeaway on Tour. We ended the first half every night with Riverdance. Dec’s a lot better at it than me. Little s***.
“I’d played football and golf and the knee had started creaking, but the dance did the damage," he said. "The meniscus had torn. I had to go in for a routine operation.
"I came out and was still in pain days, weeks and months after. They injected steroids but nothing helped it. That was the start of the prescribed painkillers."
The popular Saturday night host said that he had been walking with a hairline fracture for months, which had been missed in the first operation on his knee.
The fracture then turned into a 2cm hole in the bone, which meant he was in constant pain while his leg was in a brace.
He said: “The NHS were brilliant. but the fracture had turned into a 2cm hole in the bone.
“We looked at scans and the docs said, ‘You’re a 41-year-old man but it looks like the knee of a 60-year-old'.
“At one point I needed a possible complete knee replacement. We’ve done everything possible to stop that.”
When Mr McPartlin entered rehab, the story had already broken but he was unaware of the reaction.
"I knew it would have a reaction and I couldn’t see any of it, but that was good – I needed to be away from everything.
“For the first few weeks [in rehab] it’s complete radio silence, all you do is work. You look at all the literature, sit with teams, talk about your history, how you got to this point, analyse yourself, why you want help and speak to the medical team."
Looking towards his future, Mr McPartlin has said he will never be able to take prescription drugs, but he has 'changed'.
“I even do yoga now, I’ve got my own yoga mat now. Christ, I’ve changed," he said.
"I eat well. I’ve lost a stone. I can now do non-weight bearing stuff with my legs, like pilates, weights, lots of yoga, bike and stretching.
“I’m going to have to be careful with anything I take in the future.
“I can’t just take any prescription drugs – and I wouldn’t.
“That’s something I need to be conscious of and aware of for the rest of my life. I need to just keep talking about it. That’s what they tell you, ‘You’re still in recovery.’
“I’m off everything now. Just your basic paracetamol and coping with the pain. I’m still in pain but managing it a lot better."
