Yahoo News Adrian Chiles was diagnosed with anxiety after ITV axe
Adrian Chiles has opened up about being diagnosed with anxiety following his axe from ITV's ill-fated breakfast show Daybreak.
Speaking to RadioTimes ahead of his revealing documentary Drinkers like Me: Adrian Chiles, the star talked about being poached from BBC One's The One Show alongside Christine Bleakley in 2010, before being dropped from Daybreak a year later and let go from ITV's football coverage mid-contract in 2015.
"Daybreak was unbelievably stressful," he said, "because whatever we did, we couldn't seem to get anyone to acknowledge it was working.
"Once I was freed from Daybreak I thought, 'This will be an easy life now', as I was being paid lots of money to present a football match every two weeks. But I felt terrible, and I felt guilty for feeling terrible.
"I spent a lot of time thinking, 'What is wrong with me?' I didn't have enough to do and was over-thinking everything. I knew if I had a pint or two everything would be fine, so I was self-medicating with alcohol.
"I was already seeing my GP for high blood pressure and reflux, and on one of those visits I was diagnosed with anxiety."
The 51-year-old said that he knew his anxiety was affecting his work on the football, and saw his sacking coming. He did criticise the broadcaster for how it handled his exit mid-contract though, saying: "The way it was done made me look like I'd had my hand in the till."
Chiles also talks about his former dependency on alcohol and its "vice-like" grip on his life, which he will explore in his documentary Drinkers like Me: Adrian Chiles next Monday (August 27) at 9pm on BBC Two.
We would encourage anyone who identifies with the topics raised in this article to reach out. Organisations who can offer support include Samaritans on 116 123 (www.samaritans.org), and Mind on 0300 123 3393 (www.mind.org.uk).
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