Spencer Matthews felt “shameful” after reacting negatively to a six-word question from wife Vogue Williams as he battled alcohol addiction.
Former Made in Chelsea star Spencer says he would drink around 10 pints of Guinness a day when working as a City trader. He has previously described himself as being a “slave to the bottle”.
On his newly launched Untapped podcast with Jake Quickenden, Spencer revealed he would lie about his drinking, even reacting angrily when wife Vogue questioned him if he had been drinking. It prompted Spencer, 36, to take action and quit drinking.
READ MORE: ITV’s Lorraine quickly retracts comment after leaving GMB host stunned
READ MORE: Ketosis doctor urges people with high blood sugar to have one drink before bed
He said: “I was drinking every single day, often to excess, often early in the day, often lying about it. Vogue would be like ‘have you had a drink today?’ and I’d be like ‘why are you saying that?’ when I had.
“It’s a really shameful place to be and once you realise that, you realise you’re wrong, and you realise that it isn’t admirable or healthy, it’s not good, it’s unbecoming. You are then able to look at things and take action and if you choose to be you can exercise a bit of responsibility and try and get yourself back on track, it’s quite a difficult thing sometimes, but I did that.”
Spencer says the decision to quit drinking prompted him to launch an alcohol-free spirit brand, although it did find him becoming “sanctimonious” when he was around people who would drink. He eventually decided that it would be better to have the occasional drink.
He continued: “Things in moderation are to be encouraged and I think complete teetotalism is probably not for everyone, I am sober most of the time. I’m not saying it as a badge, like ‘I am a sober person’, physically, I am sober most of the time.
“I don’t really drink, I will have drinks from time to time and you know that it’s not great for me, I feel like there’s an instant level of regret even when I’m doing it, which is why I don’t do it that often.”
Spencer, who holds the Guinness World Record for running 30 marathons over 30 days across the desert in Jordan, says his brother James “didn’t trust him” when he was drinking. The star explains you can’t trust someone with a drinking problem because you don’t “know what they are going to say or do, or who their drinking buddy at the bar is going to be”.
He believes it is “impossible” to tell someone they have a drinking problem as well. Speaking to the MailOnline, Spencer explains: “People who are told they drink too much typically respond very badly.”
Spencer now goes long periods of time not feeling like he needs to have a drink. When recording the Untapped podcast, it was five weeks since the television personality had a drink, he explained.