I BLEW £20K SNIFFING WOTSITS
TRAGIC STEVE’S BIZARRE ADDICTION
AS addictions go, it has to be one of the more unusual…
Steve Thomas found himself HOOKED on sniffing cheesy corn snack WOTSITS and blew £ 20,000 in one year indulging his bizarre habit.
And the pile of full, sniffed Wotsits packets thrown into the yard of his home in Crewe, Cheshire, attracted vermin and he was EVICTED from his rented house and ended up HOMELESS.
Steve, 43, told Sunday Sport: “Sniffing Wotsits cost me £ 20k, I reckon – it also cost me relationships and my home.
Crack
“If you’re addicted to crack or booze, folk fall over themselves to help you but what do you do when you’re addicted to sniffing Wotsits? There’s no Wotsits Anonymous.”
Steve explained that while never a huge fan of actually eating Wotsits, he always loved the whiff of a just- opened bag.
He said: “When I was a teen, pals used to laugh at me for buying a bag of Wotsits, just so I could sniff them. After I’d had a sniff, I’d give the bag away to one of them.”
But this became an obsession when Steve was laid up for two weeks following a bunion op.
He said: “A mate came round to see if I needed anything doing and I asked for a multi- pack of Wotsits. He brought them and I sniffed six packs, one after the other.
“Next thing I knew, I was hobbling to the shop getting more. It was agony but – I realise now – I’d become hooked. After then, the addiction stepped up.
“After I’d sniffed a bag, I’d become disgusted with myself and started hurling the packets outside the back door.
“A pile built up, attracting rats and flies. The landlord told me to clear it up but I couldn’t get motivated – all I wanted to do was sniff Wotsits. Eventually I was served notice to quit and I was homeless for a while.”
Eventually Steve got help from a counsellor and broke his addiction.
He said: “Thankfully, I can now handle open packets as long as I don’t sniff them.”
Dr Jarvis Kensington of the University of West Lancashire said: “While Steve was not addicted to Wotsits per se – they are not addictive in any way – he was addicted to the behaviour of sniffing them. But his compulsive disorder is now under control.”