Troubled former England soccer star Paul Gascoigne has said that he spent 16,000 pounds trying to cure his addiction for the energy drink Red Bull.
London, Feb.23 : Troubled former England soccer star Paul Gascoigne has said that he spent 16,000 pounds trying to cure his addiction for the energy drink Red Bull.
Gazza, who has been sectioned under the Mental Health Act, claimed that there was a time when he was downing 50 cans of the energy drink daily.
The Sun quoted him as saying that he checked into a 4,000-pound-a-week rehab clinic in America for a month to end his addiction.
The ex-England ace confessed to the bizarre addiction during late-night chats with a hotel worker at the Marriott in Gateshead.
He was there until the end of last month, when he was kicked out because staff was concerned at the amount he was drinking.
"He was in a terrible state. He was drinking every day and would order pints of Stella, Magners cider and double brandies on room service. It got to point where the hotel decided they wanted him out," a Marriot staffer was quoted, as saying.
Gazza then moved to Newcastle's Malmaison Hotel, from which he was kicked out before being sectioned this week.
He is in the intensive care unit at the private Middleton St George psychiatric hospital in Durham County.
His stepdaughter Bianca, 21, said last night: "It is a sad situation and my dad needs respect and privacy to get back to good health."
Jack Charlton, Newcastle manager when Gazza started his career in 1984, said: "He's a lovely lad, but he misses football. He needs to be involved in the game. That is where he is happy."
ANI