LOUIE Spence has opened up about the horrifying way he watched his mum, Pat, die.
The Celebrity SAS star, 56, revealed his mother died from alcohol-related illness in 2013 after battling a secret addiction.
3
3
Speaking on Jamie Laing’s Great Company podcast, the dancer explained: “My mum was my world. I didn’t realise my mum was drinking.
“My mum was never falling over, the house was spotless, my dad’s tea was always cooked, she never smelt of alcohol.
“One day I went home and looked at her and went, ‘What the f**k is wrong with you? You look like f*****g Bart Simpson’.
“Her skin had gone really yellowy. I took her down to the hospital and they told us that the state of her liver, she’d have five years.
READ MORE ON CELEBRITY SAS
“This was how clever they are, she’d always have a water bottle with her, it was vodka in there.”
Host Jamie asked: “Did you confront her? Did you say what the hell is this?”
Louie, who recently showed off his bruised and swollen face, responded: “She said, ‘I don’t care, if I’m gonna die, I die happy’.
The choreographer went on to reveal the tragic moment he watched his mum take her final breaths.
“Then she went into hospital for a couple of weeks and we get a phone call, ‘You need to come up, you need to come now’,” he bravely recalled.
“She had this mask all over her face, it’s like a snorkel mask. Then she sits bolt upright, she takes this mask off her face, which is the only way she can breathe and says, ‘I’ve had enough’.
“I swear within 10 or 20 seconds, you heard this horrible gurgle and she turned her head, bit of a dribble and she was dead.”
Despite losing his mother due to tragic circumstances, Louie said he doesn’t blame her or hold anything against her.
He added: “My worst nightmare had come true. I don’t blame her for anything, she was an addict. It still hurts, the fact that she chose alcohol over my dad and us but she didn’t.”
Louie admitted that alcoholism has been prevalent in his family for years, with his grandmother, auntie and uncle all dying of the disease.
As a result, he and his sisters have made the decision to not drink alcohol.
Despite working with huge names such as Tina Turner and The Spice Girls, the choreographer previously opened up about his humble upbringing and what life was like for him and his mum when he was growing up.
He told MailOnline in June: “My mom, as a kid, did tap dancing and ballroom and Latin, but she was pregnant at 17, had three babies by the time she was 19, so that went out the window.
“I mean, my mum could dance, my dad had a good sense of humour, like I say, they were going in like rabbits, I mean they actually would work to supply money to support the kids.
“She was a cleaner, she worked in the factory in between having a few nervous breakdowns.”
Louie recently starred on Celebrity SAS but viewers saw him make the decision to quit in the first episode.
He exited the Channel 4 show in the first 24 hours after realising he was “too old” for the course and couldn’t hack it.
What to do if you think are an alcoholic
IF you’re struggling with alcohol addiction, the most important thing is to recognise the problem and seek support – You don’t have to face it alone.
Seek Professional Help
- GP or Doctor – A medical professional can assess your situation and provide advice on treatment options.
- Therapists or Counsellors – Talking to an addiction specialist can help address underlying causes and develop coping strategies.
- Rehab or Detox Programmes – If physical dependence is severe, medically supervised detox may be necessary.
Consider Support Groups
3
