Jack admits falling off the wagon

Jack Dee has admitted that he is an alcoholic, and spoken of his years battling the bottle.

In an interview with the Radio Times he said: "I suppose I'm an alcoholic, but I shy away from that definition because it has implications of an insane, violent drunk who throws tables through windows.

"I become morose and get depressed. I attribute many bad experiences in my life to alcohol. I don't think I can play with it any more."

After a decade on the wagon, Dee started drinking moderately a few years ago, but it was after winning Celebrity Big Brother in 2001, he started drinking heavily again. However, he has now not had a drink for more than a year.

"Two years ago, I started drinking again, in private, and it exploded in my head," he said.

And in a separate interview with The Times, the 42-year-old says he stopped going to Alcoholics' Anonymous because photographers would lurk outside the meetings, though he says: "I'm not blaming the press for being interested."

He told the paper that at his worst, he says, he drank enough to be drunk "whenever possible" ­ often starting in the morning.

"I was happy to do that because it's just a lovely way of switching your brain off - so I thought," he said.

Dee was speaking to promote his straight acting role as a politician in BBC1 drama The Deputy, which starts on Monday.

Published: 17 Feb 2004