Spencer Matthews has spoken about his problem drinking on an episode of the RTÉ documentary series Hooked, saying it made him "almost aggressive" towards his wife, the Irish podcaster and TV presenter Vogue Williams.
In the second episode of RTÉ One's three-part documentary series, presented by neuroscientist Dr Brian Pennie, the reality TV star turned endurance athlete said his drinking began at a young age.
"I used to drink every single day, probably from the age of 15 all the way up to 30, quite often to excess," Matthews told Pennie.
"There was a period where I would walk past the liquor cabinet at 9/10am and I'd be drawn by it. I would sometimes open the liquor cabinet and bang a shot of tequila and put the bottle back.
"And Vogue would say, 'Have you had a drink today?' I'd say, 'Of course I haven't, why are you asking me if I've had a drink today?' Almost aggressive back."
Matthews, who in 2024 broke the world record by running 30 marathons in 30 days on sand, detailed how his former therapist Chris Somers helped him face his drinking problem.
He recounted: "The very first time I met Chip Somers, the bloke who sobered me up for the first time, he looked at me and said: 'You absolutely stink, you stink of whiskey. When we finish this meeting and you leave I'm going to have to open the windows in here so that my next client doesn't think I've been drinking - that's how bad you smell.'
"He said to me, I don't want you to drink alcohol for the next seven days, he challenged me, and I love a challenge. He summed me up - he made me feel like s*** and then he challenged me.
"I left and I thought, 'I'll show him'."
When he was 10-years-old, Matthews lost his older brother Michael, who vanished three hours after becoming the youngest Briton to reach the summit of Everest at the age of 22.
In 2023, the broadcaster made the Disney+ documentary Finding Michael, which saw him attempt to find his brother's body.
However, the former Made in Chelsea reality TV star was reluctant to blame the trauma of his sibling's loss on his problem with alcohol.
"You could say that it had an impact on my drinking, but I've never felt comfortable blaming Mike's death on my behaviour," he said.
"I was a hedonist, I loved going out, I loved drinking, I loved being the life and soul of the party. A lot of this behaviour is on me."
The 36-year-old TV star continued: "Vogue always references that I didn't cry at the birth of any of our kids. That's not to say that that experience wasn't moving for me, I physically find it difficult to cry.
"I have therapy every so often and he said that there's all kinds of ways to unlock that, but I'm not bothered to be honest. I don't think it's that important that I'd be crying all the time either.
"I'm quite hardened in that sense, and sometimes I wish I wasn't."
When asked by Pennie, himself a recovered drug addict, what stage of his recovery he felt he was in, Matthews replied: "I don't think I'm in recovery, to be honest. If I felt like having a drink, I would have a drink. It doesn't frighten me anymore.
"I don't need to drink in secrecy, I don't need to hide it. If I fancy a glass of wine with my wife, I'll have one. She wouldn't care.
"We've gone through it all and come out the other side and it feels good to have that element of control."
The second episode of Hooked airs on Wednesday, 9 April at 9.35pm on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player.
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