Jemma’s childhood trauma

The actor is recovering from addictions to alcohol, painkillers and cocaine.

In his only newspaper chat since being evicted on Friday, he said: “My recovery was so tested. Imagine you’re sitting there and everyone is drinking and you’re not.

“I was worried. It’s not easy in there. It is hard if you have addictive tendencies. For me it’s been a really tough journey. I’ve not found it easy to stay in recovery all the time.”

Books are banned in the house but producers allowed him to read a selfhelp manual to stay on track.

He said: “I have a daily reflection book called Just For Today and I was able to read once a day. It gave me strength and allowed me to remember I was staying clean and sober.

“There were some people in there who changed when they drank. If I’d have had a drink that could have happened to me, which is why I couldn’t do it. And that’s why I won’t do it.”

Paul, 39, whose son DeNiro will be two in September, stayed off the booze throughout CBB and sees the show as a huge turning point.

The former Hollyoaks star now credits JEMMA Lucy has spoken about her troubled childhood.

In a frank chat with other housemates, she said: “I just kept getting kicked out of schools. They just thought I needed to go somewhere to get fixed basically. So they sent me to this place in America. But I was told in England that I was going on a skiing holiday. I got tricked, 100%. I got lied to.

“While I was in the camp my mum went through my suitcase and threw away anything she didn’t like. She threw away my thongs as she said I shouldn’t be wearing thongs at 15.

“The trauma that I suffered meant I didn’t leave England for two years. I was too scared.”