Mugging that persuaded Lynda to stop drinking
OUR first real test came when I decided to stop drinking. It was 2006, I was 51, and my GP told me that if I carried on boozing I’d probably have a stroke in ten years.
After that, I didn’t touch a drop for years, apart from a glass of champagne when we got engaged.
Lynda carried on regardless, but by 2007 I’d had a bellyful of boozy gatherings with Lynda’s famous friends.
I told Lynda how I felt. She agreed, but didn’t do anything about it.
Things came to a head after a Sunday lunchtime do at actress Amanda Redman’s house. Lynda was plastered after drinking all afternoon.
We hadn’t been home long when we got a call to say her sister Jean had been mugged and was lying in a pool of blood in Crouch End.
Lynda was in no fit state, so I drove Jean to hospital. When I got back, Lynda was still slumped in the chair.
I didn’t want to lose her, but we weren’t going anywhere if she carried on drinking. I was still mad when I flew to Spain the next morning and ignored her calls. I finally answered what must have been her 50th attempt to reach me.
She was ashamed of herself for not being there for her sister and promised, between sobs, that she’d stop drinking.
Together, it wasn’t even difficult to do.
We didn’t even indulge at our wedding (though the bar bill reached £30,000. Thirsty lot, these celebrities!)