Comedian speaks out to promote addiction helpline

John Robins has opened up about his gambling addiction as he backs a new campaign to help those with problems.

The comedian got hooked on pub fruit machines as a teenager, and as his losses mounted he became so desperate he began self-harming.

Speaking to launch a publicity drive for the National Gambling Treatment Service, he said: ‘Gambling didn't just cost me money, it also cost me friendships and my self-esteem. It left me isolated and in total despair. And it almost cost me my life.

‘There are many people too afraid to seek help for gambling harms, but let me reassure you, it was the best thing I did. Everything I've done with my life has only been possible because of the help I received to stop gambling.

‘You are not alone, and please don’t sit there in silence. There are people out there wanting to help you, and the National Gambling Treatment Service has a range of support available that can get you on the right path.’

Robins first revealed his gambling problems in the  2019  BC Three documentary, Can You Beat the Bookies? when he said: ‘I haven’t really spoken about it. I’ve tried to write about it but it’s something that means too much to be funny about it I guess. It’s part of my life pre-comedy.’

He said he took to gambling as ‘a way of switching my brain off. As soon as I was stood in front of a fruit machine it was just like flicking a switch, where I didn’t think about anything’.

The comedian eventually went to Gamblers Anonymous, and said: ‘The situation was getting very out of control and I was very desperate and self-harming. This was about 1999/2000.’ He added that had he got hooked in the age of always-there online gambling ‘I would probably be dead because I would have killed myself.’

GambleAware, which has launched the new campaign, has warned that an estimated 1.4 million people are experiencing harms from their gambling.

The National Gambling Treatment Service (NGTS), which is backed by the NHS, offers free, confidential support through telephone, website, face-to-face, group and residential therapy.  Last year it helped about 8,500 people across the country, but GambleAware’s figures suggest that for every person who gets NGTS support each year, there are nearly 160 others who could benefit but don’t get the help they need.

Kevan Mailey from the Gordon Moody charity tackling addiction, spoke of how important getting help was for him.

He said:  ‘I knew deep down that I had a problem for a long time but it was only after my mum died in 2017 that I looked for help.

‘Gambling ruined my life for almost 30 years. It started when I visited arcades when I was very young and started becoming a problem when I got my first job as a paperboy, spending all of my wages on the dog and horse races.

‘Gambling impacted on almost every part of my life and if I hadn’t got the help I needed I know I wouldn’t be here any longer.’

Anyone wanting to get help or support for themselves or another can contact the National Gambling Helpline on 0808 8020 133. The service is free, confidential, and open 24 hours a day.

Published: 23 Mar 2022