Rocker Matt tried to get high aged 7
BUSTED STAR INHALER ABUSE
ROCKER Matt Willis tried to “get high” on his childhood inhaler aged seven.
The Busted star, now 35, went to rehab for substance abuse in 2005 after the band’s rise to fame and initial split.
But he dismissed the idea the break-up of the group was to blame for his issues with drugs and alcohol.
The Year 3000 musician said: “I was mildly asthmatic as a kid and I used to hide under my duvet and take as many hits of my inhaler as I could when I was seven because it would make my head throb, make my lips tingle.
“I’d be getting high in my bed at seven so I have always had this in me to find ways to get away from dealing with who I am and how I feel.”
Speaking on mental health podcast The Naked Professors, Matt rejected the idea the band’s turmoil was the cause of his struggle with addiction. The bassist and singer said: “I was in trouble before the band ended, I was a massive alcoholic.
“I don’t think being in a band made me the way I am.
“I would have been the same if I worked in Tesco or a bank. I am an addict all the way through.”
The singer had twice been to rehab for alcohol and drug addictions before he married The Voice presenter Emma Willis, 42, in 2008.
But he did not get fully sober until his third stint of treatment later that year. He previously admitted he used to cringe looking back at pictures from their wedding. The hitmaker said: “I was a massive, bloated, wreck-head. “A sweaty, chubby, d ***head. “I looked terrible.
“I looked like a competition winner stood next to Emma Willis.”