I need to go to rehab but I’ve only got £20 to my name… I’m spiralling on drink & drugs, says Love Island’s Jack Fincham
AFTER relapsing on booze and drugs, Love Island winner Jack Fincham says he would love to go to rehab – but can’t afford to because he is skint.
Eight years ago, Jack’s life was transformed when he triumphed in the reality TV series with ex-partner Dani Dyer.
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Jack Fincham said he would love to go to rehab – but he can’t afford itCredit: Louis Wood
His life was transformed when he triumphed in the reality TV series with ex-partner Dani DyerCredit: Rex Features
Jack has had an on-off relationship with Towie star Chloe Brockett for six yearsCredit: Instagram
And in an exclusive interview today, the 33-year-old reveals: “I was on top of the world after Love Island but my life has turned into a rollercoaster.
“A few weeks before Christmas I started drinking heavily again. I need rehab but the Love Island millions have gone, I can’t afford it.”
Putting his hand in his pocket he pulls out a £20 note. And shaking his head, he says: “I’ve got this in my pocket and nothing in the bank.
“I went to rehab four years ago and spent thousands doing it but I didn’t truly believe I had a problem.
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“So I came out with the same mindset.
“A few months ago I thought it’d be OK to have a drink. I’d done a big stint of not drinking and thought, ‘Yeah, I’ve got this under control, I’ve won the battle’.
“But it spiralled. Since then I have done drugs, I have done laughing gas. I have been so drunk that I’ve kissed a woman over Christmas and don’t even remember doing it.
“I am embarrassed, mortified . . . of course I am. I feel like an idiot. I am a 33-year-old man. I should be settled down, married.
“Instead I need help. I’d love to go to rehab because now I know I have a problem and I want to be able to say no to future temptations.”
Jack attended rehab in 2021, three years after his stint on Love Island.
RELAPSE FEARS
Talking about his recent relapse, he refers to a time he was out with friends in a South East London pub.
He says: “As soon as I had one I was up on the bar dancing, then it was the sambucas and tequila. I don’t even like tequila.
“I started to ring people, I started to talk nonsense.
“I’ve now realised I’m someone that cannot pick up a drink.
“From there I started to go to the corner shop on my electric bike and drink BuzzBallz on my own. I’d knock back two or three of them.
“They got me drunk quickly. Then I’d go home and try to sleep. I am an insomniac.
“I have been addicted to sleeping pills in the past too.
“From there I found some diazepam in an old coat pocket and started taking them too.
“It became a vicious cycle of drinking more and stupid mistakes.
“I did laughing gas, nitrous oxide with my mates, balloons in the back of cars like a stupid kid. I am too old for all that. And it is wrong.
“I am easily influenced, which is ridiculous to admit, but I am.
“That’s why I need rehab. I need the tools so I can say, ‘No, that’s not for me. I can’t do that’.”
RELATIONSHIP WOES
For the past six years Jack has had an on-off relationship with Towie star Chloe Brockett, 25, a romance that he says he would “rather not” discuss.
But what he will admit to is kissing Married At First Sight UK star Leisha Lightbody when they were at the Tulleys Christmas Light Festival, in Crawley, West Sussex.
Putting his hands over his face and shaking his head, he says: “I was so drunk. Somebody took a video. I was like, ‘What the f***’ when I saw it. I couldn’t remember it at all. In fact, what I did remember is that my mate Harry had been chatting her up all night so I have zero idea how I ended up kissing her. It was probably the worst kiss of her life!”
FACING MY PROBLEMS
Jack, who cannot drive because he has been banned after drug-driving, admits a low was asking ChatGPT if it was actually OK for him to drive.
He says: “Thankfully I didn’t drive. When I sobered up I realised how ridiculous I sounded.
“Of course I can’t drive. I am doing community service. I spend hours every month weeding graves for people who died centuries ago.
“I spoke to my mum, Samantha, I told her what a state I was in.
“She said it was because I was bored, that I needed focus, structure in my life, and she was right.
“And I needed help. I went, after New Year, to the doctors. You’re not going to get rehab on the NHS but he gave me some leaflets, put me down for CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy) and gave me some proper sleeping tablets.
“I’ve been taking them for the past couple of weeks and just getting sleep is such a relief.
“My GP is also sorting out medication to help with my ADHD.
“I hate to bang on about this, I feel like everyone is jumping on this bandwagon, but I was diagnosed via a psychiatrist and it is part of my problem. It causes me insomnia, and lack of sleep is hideous.”
And for Jack, a lack of focus and routine is equally bad.
Jack can’t remember snogging MAFS’ Leisha Lightbody before ChristmasCredit: The Sun
Jack revealed his ripped body transformation ahead of his fight last year with Aaron ChalmersCredit: Instagram
BACK TO WORK
Although he returned as a salesman at the stationery company where he first found work as a teen, it wasn’t a full-time job. And a lack of money and work meant he has been spending months at his mum’s house watching Netflix.
He says: “I’ve not been boxing as much either because my boxing licence wasn’t granted because I had a bare-knuckle fight; rightly so as that is against their rules. It meant I had nowhere to actually be and carried on drinking.”
But earlier this month one of his friends spoke frankly to him.
Jack says: “I needed that, to be told straight. He said he knew a bloke who runs a lift company who was looking for a new engineer. He said I needed to get a trade, some routine, some money in my pocket — and grow up. It was brutal.”
Tomorrow morning at 7.30am he starts that new job — and what he hopes will be a new chapter in his life. He says: “I plan to work really hard and get a trade. I should have done this when I left Love Island.
“I’m excited to be getting up at 6am, doing a physical job and feeling exhausted at night.
“I don’t think the money is great, I’ve not asked. It isn’t about the cash, it’s about sorting my life out.
“I want to earn enough to pay for rehab. It’s about £15,000 for two weeks. Since I’ve had the focus of the new job I’ve not had a drink.
“And on Wednesday night I went to an addicts group.
“My new boss is a reformed addict and he knows my background. He’s giving me a chance.”
TELLY FUTURE
And Jack hopes he will one day return to doing TV work alongside his job.
He says: “I’ve done over 30 different TV shows, live-presenting, the lot, but I messed up. I would love to do it again.
“I’ve been laid in bed waiting for the phone to ring, someone saying, ‘Hiya Jack, here’s £20k and we want you to be on Strictly or the new Love Island series’.
“But they’re not going to take a risk on me, are they right now?
“I need to finish my community service, prove I am back to strength.
“If I went back on Love Island I know I would win it again. Never say never!”
He admits he is envious of those about to return for Love Island: All Stars. Managing to break into a smile, he says: “What a dreadful thing to admit, but yes I am.
“That’s not a nice way to be. The green-eyed monster will eat you up. I will be successful on TV again one day.”
But Jack still has an army of fans. He has 1.5million followers on Instagram, has his own YouTube channel called Back To Jack and has recently joined an acting agency. His dream is to do a Guy Ritchie-style film.
He says: “I have spoken out and put my hands up today because I know that people have seen me drunk online and in the papers.
“I know I’ve had more comebacks than a retired heavyweight but this time it’s for good. I can’t wait to put on those new boots on Monday morning. I get recognised every day and some people may be shocked to see me doing this.
“But I am proud that I will be grafting and earning a wage.
“Being a lift engineer may not be showbiz but I think it’s going to be the thing that really does change my life.”
Jack has been banned from driving and is currently doing community serviceCredit: Louis Wood
The former salesman revealed the truth about his kiss with MAFS star Leisha LightbodyCredit: Instagram
Jack has started his new job as a lift engineer after pausing his TV careerCredit: Louis Wood
The Love Island star hopes he will one day return to doing TV work alongside his jobCredit: Rex Features
