James ‘Arg’ Argent has opened up on the ‘terrible effects’ his addictions had on his family.
The former reality star, 34, has been in the spotlight in recent months as he unveiled his dramatic transformation after losing 13 stone in weight – with doctors now advising him he may have lost too much.
But while the former The Only Way Is Essex star was praised for having an open conversation on his weight loss, including his gastric sleeve operation and gruelling workout regime, behind the headlines he was still struggling.
The reality star has been sober for two years but recently suffered a relapse which led to paramedics being called to his home, however has apparently recovered well from his setback.
Now, in a new interview with MailOnline, Arg admitted that, in his worst days of his addiction, his family were desperately worried about him – so much so that some of them had to seek therapy of their own.
Their worry was also entrenched in guilt, he revealed, as they had distanced themselves from him at the time so as not to enable him on his path of self-destruction.
He told the outlet: ‘My using has terrible effects on other people, like my mum and close friends, cos they panic thinking their son or best mate’s gonna die.
‘I’m giving other people anxiety and sleepless nights and other people have had to have therapy off the back of my issues.’
Wedding singer Arg went on to say that his family are hugely proud and supportive of his recovery, but admitted there ‘is still that feat of potentially relapsing’, adding he needs to ‘take my recovery seriously’.
Opening up on his relapse, Arg said previous attempts at sobriety sometimes didn’t go to plan as he could ‘forget how bad things were in the past’.
‘You can even tell yourself, “Oh this time it might be different, I can have a few drinks, I can manage it this time, I can control it this time,” but when you’re an addict you can’t,’ he explained.
Following his recent relapse, Arg appeared on Loose Women, where he shared that loneliness and changing his relationship with food had caused the setback.
The star said that he’s naturally an ‘extrovert’ and admitted that spending long periods of time all alone can be tough, despite the fact he’s purchased his ‘dream home’ in Essex.
He said: ‘I managed to do it but it’s a family home, and I’m in there in this beautiful house all alone. No girlfriend, no one to live with me.’
‘I love company, I love entertaining and I love being entertained,’ he said.
‘A lot of people’s chaos can be from being out all the time… my chaos starts when I’m indoors, alone, bored, lonely. Too much time on my hands.’
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