Mansfield star Richard Bacon speaks openly about his past alcohol addictions

LONDON, ENGLAND - JULY 06: Richard Bacon attends the Barclaycard Exclusive Area at Barclaycard Presents British Summer Time Hyde Park at Hyde Park on July 06, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Eamonn M. McCormack/Getty Images for Barclaycard Exclusive).

Speaking openly on the BBC's Hooked podcast, the former Blue Peter presenter described the "chaos and difficulty and uncertainty" which drinking had caused in his life, and the strain it has had on his 11-year marriage.

The broadcaster says he has been to regular therapy sessions since his last major episode as an alcoholic, describing times where he would "go missing" and "frighten" his wife Rebecca with his actions.

But he says that he has "come to realise" the importance of his marriage and the impact his actions have had on his family.

MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 16: Richard Bacon attends the 'Blue Peter Big Birthday' celebration at BBC Philharmonic Studio on October 16, 2018 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Shirlaine Forrest/Getty Images)

He said: "I'm definitely not destructive or dangerous, although I am in denial? Us addicts do say stuff like that.

"I think this year in particular, by doing quite a lot of therapy, I've come to truly realise how important my marriage is to me.

"And if I'm going to get hammered and do stuff I shouldn't do, and I go missing, I'm going to frighten her.

"That's what my therapist said, he says 'because you've been married 11 years and you've been through periods of drinking too heavily, being unreliable and at times lying, then you've got to understand that at sometimes Rebecca is scared of you'.

Richard Bacon in hospital last year after falling ill on a plane.

"And what I want is to have a really close marriage and we have one at the moment.

"But when I've been through periods where we've not been really close, it's because he says 'well, you've scared her and you've got little children together, and how can you expect someone to be that close to you when you've just simply frightened them?'"

He added that there was often cases where he didn't check into rehab, even when there was "probably times" where he needed to.

"I didn't go to rehab probably because I didn't feel like I needed to. And there were probably times when I did need to. I've been through some ups and downs.

"I've caused some chaos and some uncertainty, and there was the odd night where I've gone missing and that kind of thing, which obviously wives and partners don't enjoy.

"I am an addict, I think I'm still an addict, and that doesn't mean getting drunk every day.

"Once you've been an addict, you kind of accept that you're always one and you could always be an active one again."