McFly star Harry Judd has told of how he used to be “hooked” on smoking marijuana, and how exercise has helped him to combat issues involving anxiety in recent years.
The drummer, 31, also said he has stopped drinking and smoking, and is aware “of the need to take care” of himself in order to keep away the “demons banging on the door”.
Judd wrote in his new fitness book Get Fit, Get Happy, which has been serialised in The Sun, that in the earlier days of stardom in pop-rock band McFly he came to rely heavily on smoking the drug, and that it increased his anxiety.
He said: “I loved my weed. Smoking was a daily occurrence.
“Sure, being out there with the band was a blast, but even when I was playing to thousands and lapping up the adulation of the fans, it always felt good returning to the band house so I could roll up and spark up.”
Despite being caught by the band’s manager and promising to quit, he said he carried on, describing that as “the worst mistake of my life”.
Judd said the drug “became a part of life”, and that, without it, he struggled to sleep and “couldn’t really function”.
“I realise now that I was suffering from the physical effects of anxiety and paranoia,” he said.
The former Strictly Come Dancing champion continued: “The truth was I was simply hooked.
“I started drinking four or five beers as I looked for ways to increase the high. Smoking was starting to take over my life. The more I smoked, the more anxious I became.”
Harry told of how he “felt like passing out” before heading on-stage to collect the band’s best pop act prize at the Brit Awards in 2005, adding that he had felt “crushed with anxiety”.
Having taken the drug for the last time later that year, following a stint at rehabilitation facility the Priory, Harry said engaging in exercise in recent years has helped him to give up smoking cigarettes and alcohol.
“Exercise has helped me turn my life around,” he said, describing physical activity as his “go-to weapon in the battle to stop smoking”.
He added: “It helped fill the gap left when I stopped drinking alcohol.
“I have come to accept that anxiety and OCD are issues that will probably be with me the rest of my life.
“Every day I am aware of the need to take care of myself. If I don’t, the demons banging on the door might find a way in.”