Strictly's Paul Merson's marriage to childhood sweetheart broke down due to addiction strain

Former England midfielder and manager Paul Merson has signed up to the latest series of BBC's Strictly Come Dancing, but his life off screen has been far from easy

Former midfielder and manager Paul Merson is taking to the polished ball room floor on this season of Strictly Come Dancing.

The 56-year-old sportsman from London announced he was "excited'" to join BBC's Strictly squad, but that he'd have to take every day as it comes.

"Joining [the show] is a whole new ball game for me, but I'm going to tackle this challenge head-on," he added.

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"I'm ready to swap the pitch for the Ballroom floor, so here's hoping my two left feet can learn some moves. And you never know, maybe I'll be taking home the Glitterball Trophy!"

Paul has come a long way. The ex footballer has dealt with the difficulties of addiction, struggling with drugs, alcohol and gambling, while sadly led to the end of his marriage to to high-school sweet heart Lorraine Costin.

The pair were married for ten years in the 1990s. They were only 21 when they tied the knot in 1991, and then went on to have three sons named Charlie, Ben and Sam.

During his darkest days, Paul reportedly spent up to £7 million to feed his addictions. Lorraine described feeling "helpless at the time."

"I wasn't even angry when I found out how much he'd spent," she said, according to reports. "I just felt helpless."

Lorraine expressed having a "deluded" belief that she could "fix" her partner's problem, but due to her young years, she realised she just couldn't under stand it.

"The hardest thing is to help someone who doesn't want to help themselves," she added. "Nobody can change him. He has to do that himself."

Paul's goals for Strictly include helping those struggling with addictions, showing that there is life beyond the grips of addiction.

"Being an addict and a recovering alcoholic myself....to show people watching this show who have got addictions, that you can go out and do something like this...is so important," he said.

"Because addiction takes you away from everything. That's all it ever does. It wants you on your own. Now I'm going in front of millions of people doing something I'm not very good at. I used to think, 'I can't do things like that' but now I've got the opportunity to try."

Watching him from the sidelines will be his wife Kate, with whom he has two children.

If you or someone you know is struggling with addiction, there are supports available from the HSE. Call THE confidential freephone helpline on 1800 459 459 from Monday to Friday between 9:30 am and 5:30 pm. You can email to ask for a callback or opt to leave a voicemail to ask for a callback.

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