Strictly Come Dancing's Paul Merson's world away from football -with addiction battle and failed marriages

Paul Merson
-Credit: (Image: Getty Images)


Swapping football for the foxtrot, 56 year old sporting legend Paul Merson has announced he's excited to join BBC's Strictly Come Dancing and is ready for a challenge. "Joining [the show] is a whole new ball game for me, but I'm going to tackle this challenge head-on," said the former midfielder and manager from London.

He added, "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!". Yet, away from the sparkle of dance contests, Paul's life has faced many difficulties. The ex-footballer once battled severe addiction issues, involving alcohol, drugs, and gambling, that cost him his marriage to high school sweetheart Lorraine Costin.

Strictly celeb line-up 2024
The Strictly celebs ready to take to the famous dancefloor this year -Credit:BBC Studios/Ray Burmiston

A shocking £7 million went into feeding his vices, and despite earning around £10,000 a week, Lorraine was 'naive' to the extent of his spending, confessing, "I wasn't even angry when I found out how much he'd spent," reportedly stated Lorraine. She confessed her 'deluded' belief in being able to solve his problems, ultimately acknowledging that change had to come from Paul himself: "The hardest thing is to help someone who doesn't want to help themselves," she expressed."Nobody can change him. He has to do that himself.", reports the Mirror.

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Paul is now hoping that his time on Strictly will serve as an inspiration to those battling addiction, showing them that there's a light at the end of the tunnel. "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 shared.

Former footballer Paul Merson at OldTrafford in 2022
Paul admitted that 'addiction takes everything away from you' -Credit:Getty Images

"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."

Cheering him on from the wings as he hits the Strictly dancefloor will be his third wife Kate, the mother of his two children.