Lee Hendrie in Harry's Heroes
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Harry’s Heroes: Euro Having a Laugh viewers in tears as ex footballer Lee Hendrie describes suicide attempts

Brave for opening up

ITV viewers were in pieces last night watching ex footballer Lee Hendrie open up about his suicide attempts in Harry’s Heroes: Euro Having A Laugh.

During the second episode of the new series, aired on Tuesday (May 19), Lee opened up to Vinnie Jones and Paul Merson about his heartbreaking battle with depression.

The former pros were talking about the mental impact of leaving the game, when Vinnie asked Lee: “Did you struggle when you came out of the game?”

What did Lee Hendrie say on Harry’s Heroes?

Lee Hendrie in Harry's Heroes
Lee Hendrie opened up about his suicide attempts on Harry’s Heroes (Credit: ITV)

Read more: Harry’s Heroes: Euro Having a Laugh viewers in tears over Neil ‘Razor’ Ruddock’s health issues

Lee admitted: “I thought it was going to continue and continue, you can have good money and it’s going to last forever.

“I fell deep down into bad depression. I obviously ended up going bankrupt. My house got repossessed. They repossessed my mum’s house…

“That just destroyed me. I just wanted to… That was in then. I just got up one day, got pissed, had too much to drink and tried to kill myself. I just woke up on a life-support machine.”

Lee Hendrie in Harry's Heroes
Vinnie Jones and Paul Merson encouraged Lee to speak about his depression (Credit: ITV)

He continued: “My body shut down. Then I tried to do it again. Because I just couldn’t grasp what was going on. I felt that was the only way of getting away from it.”

Every single day I struggle.

Vinnie told him: “I mean, I had the same thing. I came out of it the other end. But you will and day by day, you do progress.”

Lee went on: “Still to now, every single day I struggle. I still take anti-depressants. I didn’t even want to talk about it.”

Brave for opening up

Reacting on Twitter, one viewer said: “Lee is definitely struggling with life in general. All too familiar and sad to see. Keep talking Lee!”

Another said: “What an emotional and moving interview! Merse is so right! Everything looks fine on the outside! But it’s not on the inside. Vinnie you are spot on, houses, money, nothing can ever replace a something you love so much x.”

A third tweeted: “Tears in my eyes. You can just see in Lee Hendrie’s face how much he’s depressed. Good to see men opening up and talking. So many keep it deep down and before you know it, our loved ones and mates are gone.”

Read more: Harry Redknapp slams Channel 4 documentary that showed him accepting £20k to support charity 

“@leehendrie77 loving #HarrysHeroes and so brave to talk about your depression,” said a fourth, adding: “You’re a legend, Lee… we love you.”

Someone else put: “In tears for the second night running watching #HarrysHeroes Watching Paul Merson, Vinnie Jones and Lee Hendrie open up on mental health issues just emphasises that anyone can be affected and people must speak out. Don’t suffer in silence.”

– Harry’s Heroes: Euro Having a Laugh concludes tonight (Wednesday, May 20) at 9pm on ITV

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Nancy Brown
Associate Editor