Ricky Hatton has revealed the moment he allowed himself to seek treatment after turning suicidal.
The boxing star appeared on Good Morning Britain, where he spoke with hosts Kate Garraway and Richard Madeley about his new documentary, which delves into a’very dark’ period in his life.
In his new film Hatton, which will be released on Thursday, he recounts his mental health journey and says that he became’very unwell’ when he kept his feelings bottled up and refused to talk about how he was feeling.
Ricky eventually became so ill that he went to his knees, screaming for treatment from a psychiatrist or he ‘wouldn’t be here next week.’
‘I realised I couldn’t do it on my own,’ he told hosts Kate and Richard.
‘My first daughter Millie was born. She wasn’t planned and I thought, “This is something from God.” It’s going to make me think, “This is it Ricky, it’s not about you now it’s about your family.”
‘I thought that was going to do it. Unbelievably, I feel embarrassed to say, even Millie being born couldn’t do it.’
‘And I thought to myself: “Listen Rick, you can’t do this on your own. It doesn’t matter what you do it on your own. No matter what happens in that boxing ring, even with a lovely baby girl being born, you can’t do it. You’ve got to go and speak to someone and get it off your chest.’”
‘I went and saw a psychiatrist and opened the door and just fell on my knees. I said “You need to help me. You need to help me, I’m going to kill myself. I won’t be here next week, I can’t do it. You need to tell me what to do today or I won’t be here.”‘
He discussed how difficult it was for him to open up in the first place, feeling unable to express his feelings to friends or family.
‘That’s the thing with mental health. It’s hard for anyone, whether you’re a lady or a man, but with a man, to go to his friends and say “I’m crying every day, I want to kill myself.” You can’t do that. I can’t walk into my local pub and say “Lads, I’m crying every day.”
‘Even my loved ones, my parents, you can’t say it to them because you don’t want to worry them. So I kept a lot of it in, and it made me very, very poorly.’
‘Turning to heavily drinking, taking drugs, suicidal. It was horrific – after so many great years, so loved by the fans and the kids next door.
‘For it all to go the way it went, it was an extremely tough time for me.’
Good Morning Britain airs weekdays from 6am; Hatton airs on from August 31.
Need support?
For emotional support you can call the Samaritans 24-hour helpline on 116 123, email jo@samaritans.org, visit a Samaritans branch in person or go to the Samaritans website.
If you’re a young person, or concerned about a young person, you can also contact PAPYRUS Prevention of Young Suicide UK. Their HOPELINK digital support platform is open 24/7, or you can call 0800 068 4141, text 07860039967 or email: pat@papyrus-uk.org between the hours of 9am and midnight.
