Kirsty Gallacher: How the ‘black hole’ of divorce led to my arrest for drink-driving
KIRSTY GALLACHER today reveals how she sank into a ‘black hole’ of personal heartache that culminated in a humiliating conviction for drink-driving.
The TV sports presenter was reeling from a traumatic divorce from her rugby star husband Paul Sampson when she was stopped by police after a night out with friends and found to be three times over the limit.
Mother- of- two Kirsty, 43, tells The Mail on Sunday’s You magazine today: ‘I was in a very bad place with the divorce and issues to do with the children’s schedule. I was exhausted…
‘ I wasn’t thinking straight. It was very bad and very un-Kirsty because I’ve always been a good girl.’
The tarnishing of her image was just as painful as the two-year driving ban and 100 hours of community service that she was given for her crime in 2017. ‘We all make mistakes, life’s not perfect. And in the limelight you’re apparently not able to put a foot wrong,’ she says.
Kirsty was still recovering from her father Bernard’s near-death experience – the former golfer was brought back to life three times after suffering a cardiac arrest – when her marriage crumbled. She says of the 2014 break-up: ‘It was traumatic. Divorce is horrible. It floored me like it floors everyone…
‘I was just so anxious about the kids – my pain was connected with their pain, and I didn’t look after myself.’
Despite her marriage split, she agreed – unwisely as she now accepts – to take part in the 2015 season of Strictly Come Dancing, but the additional pressure only made matters worse. ‘I was an absolute nervous skinny wreck… It all tipped me over the edge,’ she says.
The ex-Sky Sports anchor, whose children are now aged 12 and nine, was equally impetuous in her love life. After her divorce, she was linked with comedian Jack Whitehall, rugby player Danny Cipriani and actor Laurence Fox in quick succession. But in an unlikely turn of events, it was comedian Russell Brand – the one-time lothario who is now happily married to Kirsty’s sister Laura – who persuaded her to concentrate on herself.
Kirsty says: ‘They were all lovely people. There was nothing awful about any of my relationships. But Russell said, “Kirsty, you don’t need to be with anyone. You need some time alone.” And he was right.’
She is undergoing therapy to help with her troubles and says: ‘I’m talking to a woman about managing anxiety and stress because that is my Achilles heel. I’ve been in a black hole for a while but now I can see daylight again.’
‘I CAN SEE DAYLIGHT AGAIN’ Full exclusive interview in you