Showing that people with addictions like me can do something like Strictly..it's important

AT the height of his addictions Paul Merson's life centred on three things: booze, drugs and gambling.

- LUCY NEEDHAM

Aside from football, there was little room for much else - including relationships, as two marriages fell apart.

During those dark days, in which he frittered away £7million on his vices, the idea of taking part on Strictly would have seemed preposterous.

But it's a sign of how far he has come that he will be taking to the dance floor this weekend. Speaking to the Mirror, the 56-year-old says he hopes his participation in the BBC1 favourite will show there is always light at the end of the tunnel for those with similar addictions.

He says: "Being an addict and a recovering alcoholic myself... to show people watching this show who have got addictions, that you can go out and do something like this is so important.

"Because addiction takes you away from everything. That's all it ever does.

"It wants you on your own. Now I'm going in front of millions of people doing something I'm not very good at. I used to think, 'I can't do things like that' but now I've got the opportunity to try." Born in 1968 in Harrow, North West London, Merson joined nearby club Arsenal as an apprentice in 1984.

By 1989 he was a regular on the right wing and went on to play 11 seasons with the club, and won 21 England caps.

At the height of his career, in the 1990s, his drinking, drug and gambling addictions spiralled out of control. A 1996 stint in rehab helped and in 1998 he celebrated a return to top-flight football alongside Paul Gascoigne.