Gregg Wallace – who is on Inside the Factory tonight (June 26) – is happily married today but suffered a tough time as he separated from his previous wife.
The former greengrocer is best known for co-presenting BBC One’s MasterChef, as well as his work on Inside the Factory.
But Gregg previously hid a secret from his loved ones before taking on his biggest TV projects.
Gregg Wallace opens up on his booze battle
In 2020, Gregg spoke openly about his previous struggles with booze.
He hit rock bottom shortly before he started hosting MasterChef in 2005.
At the time, Gregg had divorced from his second wife Denise.
I just wanted to be out and I just wanted to drink.
The television judge, 59, found himself socialising with a group of locals at The White Bear in Clerkenwell, London.
Speaking about the time, he told the MailOnline: “I just wanted to be out and I just wanted to drink. It was seven days a week.
“It got so bad at one point the owner of The White Bear in Clerkenwell used to let me in when he was still in his dressing gown.”
Gregg, who would regularly start drinking at 10am, realised he wasn’t in a good mental state.
The MasterChef star said: “It was drink dependency, I just didn’t realise. It all seemed like fun. It might have also been loneliness and a desire to just party and go out all the time. The idea of being at home wasn’t great.”
Anna, who is the mother of his son Sid, helped to change his approach to drinking.
The couple met through Twitter in 2013 and made it official in August 2016.
Gregg’s weight loss and lifestyle overhaul
Nowadays, Gregg is devoted to maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
In 2013, the chef embarked on an overhaul after doctors warned him to reduce his cholesterol levels or risk suffering a heart attack.
He has since lost four stone, gained a six pack and even created his own fitness programme.
Speaking to Entertainment Daily, Gregg previously admitted: “It’s a huge incentive, isn’t it. Anna has a much older husband but she doesn’t have to have an old and fat husband does she.
“Sid’s got a much older dad but there’s no reason his dad can’t kick a rugby ball round with him in the garden.
“I love my rugby – I play rugby with Sid’s older brother Tom and I want to do it with Sid. So it’s a massive incentive to stay fit.”
Inside the Factory airs on June 26 from 9pm on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer.
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