Goggleboxer’s drug death grief
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Stephen, 44, has described how wayward Paul killed himself at 32, leaving his family devastated.
He said: “We smoked our first cannabis joint together in our local park when I was nine and he was ten.” Stephen knocked it on the SELF- STYLED rugby league “Judas” Paul Cooke has lifted the lid on his explosive career.
Cooke, 35, received death threats and divided a city when he switched between two professional Super League clubs.
His car was vandalised and he and his girlfriend got a Christmas card saying: “Merry Christmas, hope you die.”
But the controversial player was already battling demons when he moved from Hull FC to rivals Hull KR for more money in 2007.
In his autobiography “Judas?”, released tomorrow, Cooke says: “Women and alcohol were my two biggest vices in my career.
“At times I couldn’t do without either – both at the same time usually.
“I treated people like s***, I treated women like s***.
“I didn’t care who I was hurting along the way – I was living my dream of playing rugby league.
“In 2006 I kicked a drop goal head but Paul, who was “a law unto himself” started taking more drugs.
Stephen said: “He lived how he wanted to live and didn’t conform. As we got older, Paul started to get into trouble with the police. He also started doing harder drugs.
“He met a girl and had three kids. He packed the drugs in but when they split up he went back to using needles.” Stephen’s sister told him my place and it got more intense and more heated. She made a move to the door, I physically stopped her.
“Putting even a hand on her haunts me to this day. It’s just wrong on every level.
“I hate the man I was back then. I should never have treated her so badly. I apologise unreservedly to her.”
Cooke’s move to Hull KR – who were relegated to the Championship yesterday after a Paul was dead and the family had to identify the body.
He said: “I was so shocked I fell to the floor.
“He’d been taking heroin for many years and he’d have known that amount would be fatal.
“He also had a litre of whiskey in him. The coroner said he’d have gone to sleep and his heart would have slowed until it eventually stopped, so he didn’t feel any pain. The 2004 death is revealed in hairdresser Stephen’s new book, We Need To Talk, co-written with Googlebox pal Chris Steed.
Channel 4 is bringing back Celebrity Gogglebox, to support Stand Up To Cancer, on Friday October 21. Previous star guests have included Noel Gallagher, Kate Moss and Miranda Hart.