Child abuse crusade ruined my marriage says Danczuk – as wife reveals they had no sex life
War of words: Karen Danczuk in Rochdale yesterday LABOUR MP Simon Danczuk said yesterday that campaigning for victims of child sex abuse wrecked his marriage, drove him to drink and left him on the brink of suicide.
It came after his wife Karen, 32, revealed their marriage had become sexless and they had lost the intimacy they once had.
She said they ‘weren’t even kissing’ by the end of the relationship.
‘I stopped fancying him and we had no spark left,’ she told The Sun. ‘I used to think, “If he is cheating, then he’s not coming to me for it”, which was a relief.’
Their acrimonious split last week has led to a war of words between the couple on social media. Mr Danczuk, 48, accused his wife of having an affair with her personal trainer, Ben Bate, 33, and the mother of two retaliated by branding her husband an ‘arrogant alcoholic’.
The Rochdale MP has worked tirelessly campaigning for victims of historic child sex abuse. But he said listening to their harrowing testimonies led him into depression causing him to drink a bottle of wine a night.
He unmasked former Rochdale MP Cyril Smith as a prolific paedophile and wrote Smile For The Camera: The Double Life Of Cyril Smith – serialised in the Daily Mail. The book prompted calls for a top-level inquiry into child abuse in Westminster.
Mr Danczuk said the campaign had left him with suicidal thoughts. He told BBC Radio 4: ‘It has made me depressed. I was getting angry at stuff … fairly mundane things, getting aggressive but not violently aggressive, perhaps drinking a bit too much … a full bottle of wine of an evening, especially on Fridays when I would meet with a lot of the victims – at times suicidal thoughts as well.
‘What I’ve experienced is nothing compared to what the victims themselves experienced so I feel a bit guilty that I actually get upset … It’s awful. I carry it round. I get flashbacks to what people have told [me] and what they’ve experienced.’
He said he has suffered depression for 12 months, which led to the collapse of his eight-year relationship with his wife.
Mr Danczuk said they would go out with another couple and would end up talking about child sex abuse on his night off. He added: ‘It took its toll on our marriage … If you look at some of the symptoms [of depression] you can see how it impacts on any relationship – struggling to sleep at night … so you’re waking up and you’re not in the best of moods.
‘Karen used to say, “Can we have a night off talking about child sexual abuse?” … I’d be coming home wanting to download everything I’d heard. Not everyone wants to listen to it.’
He said Westminster’s divorce and separation rate was far higher than the UK average and blamed the fact MPs work and live in London throughout the week.
A week after the couple very publicly separated Mrs Danczuk alluded to her husband becoming aggressive, claiming that he was ‘controlling’ and ‘jealous’.
She added: ‘People think he’s really calm and lovely but there’s a side to him they don’t see. He struggles to control his anger and is worse when he’s been drinking.’
But yesterday she voiced her support for her husband on Twitter, writing: ‘Very proud of @SimonDanczuk admission today. It’s the first step to getting better. Me & our boys are right behind him through this. KD’.
Mr Danczuk told the BBC that after he was re- elected in May he sought help from Westminster’s occupational therapist who referred him to a psychiatrist.
‘He said, “Have you contemplated stepping back from doing this work?” the MP added. ‘I said I had thought about it but I found it difficult … And he said, “Well I’m giving you permission to step back from it” … On one level it is regrettable because I know how important it is, but on another level I’ve got to look after myself.’
Mr Danczuk said he believed mental illness was a hidden disease at Westminster with many MPs struggling to live up to tough, no-nonsense reputations.
‘Suicidal thoughts’