Comedian Kevin Bridges reveals how Celtic legend John Hartson helped him to beat gambling addiction
Oct 05, 2014 10:57
THE 27-year-old comic was squandering up to £800 a day at the bookies before the Hoops star convinced him to stop betting.
Comedian Kevin Bridges
FUNNYMAN Kevin Bridges has revealed that he won his battle against a gambling addiction thanks to former Celtic striker John Hartson.
In his autobiography We Need to Talk About... Kevin Bridges, released this week, the Scots stand-up comedian confesses that during his rise to comic stardom he began betting obsessively and would blow up to £800 a day.
The 27-year-old said: “I was 18 when I discovered the bookies and then lost £800 in one day. It was my first decent comedy club money and I blew it. I was gambling on coupons, machines, everything.”
Bridges, who grew up in Clydebank, near Glasgow, says his love of the occasional flutter got out of hand when he was on tour in 2005.
He said: “ Stupidly I was gambling more frequently. I had maybe too much free time during the days. I’d stand in the bookies on the roulette machine, thinking I could double my £40 and £50 fees from gigs, thus enabling me to book travel and accommodation for London.
“Everything I made I was betting. I wasn’t making that much money, thankfully, but it was becoming a bit of a problem.”
Bridges, who recently donated cash to a foodbank in Maryhill, recorded his first stand-up DVD to a packed audience in 2010.
It was on a night-out in a casino in 2012 during a tour with a number of sell-out shows that the comedian first realised he was squandering all his hard-earned cash.
He said: “ I could see it was going to get worse. I was just living the life. You’re betting on football and blackjack, then the casino starts sending over the ‘free’ drinks and looking after everybody.
“Everyone gets a steak dinner, then you start going, ‘This complimentary food and drink is costing a lot of money.'”
But it was a chat with former gambling addict and Hoops star Hartson that convinced Bridges to battle his addiction.
He said: “ I’ve not had a bet in two years. It came after one of my shows. I was talking to John Hartson, the footballer, afterwards and I’d just been to the bookies, putting a bet on greyhounds or something.
“He had a real problem with gambling and lost a lot of money. I told him, ‘I don’t think I’ve got a problem.’
“He said, ‘Well don’t wait until you’ve got a problem. Just stop it!’"
In his book, Bridges admits he stopped gambling just in time and says quitting was “one of the best things” he ever did.
We Need to Talk About…Kevin Bridges, published by Michael Joseph, is out on Thursday.
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/entertainment/celebrity/comedian-kevin-bridges-reveals-how-4382374
In his autobiography We Need to Talk About... Kevin Bridges, released this week, the Scots stand-up comedian confesses that during his rise to comic stardom he began betting obsessively and would blow up to £800 a day.
The 27-year-old said: “I was 18 when I discovered the bookies and then lost £800 in one day. It was my first decent comedy club money and I blew it. I was gambling on coupons, machines, everything.”
Bridges, who grew up in Clydebank, near Glasgow, says his love of the occasional flutter got out of hand when he was on tour in 2005.
He said: “ Stupidly I was gambling more frequently. I had maybe too much free time during the days. I’d stand in the bookies on the roulette machine, thinking I could double my £40 and £50 fees from gigs, thus enabling me to book travel and accommodation for London.
“Everything I made I was betting. I wasn’t making that much money, thankfully, but it was becoming a bit of a problem.”
Bridges, who recently donated cash to a foodbank in Maryhill, recorded his first stand-up DVD to a packed audience in 2010.
It was on a night-out in a casino in 2012 during a tour with a number of sell-out shows that the comedian first realised he was squandering all his hard-earned cash.
He said: “ I could see it was going to get worse. I was just living the life. You’re betting on football and blackjack, then the casino starts sending over the ‘free’ drinks and looking after everybody.
“Everyone gets a steak dinner, then you start going, ‘This complimentary food and drink is costing a lot of money.'”
But it was a chat with former gambling addict and Hoops star Hartson that convinced Bridges to battle his addiction.
He said: “ I’ve not had a bet in two years. It came after one of my shows. I was talking to John Hartson, the footballer, afterwards and I’d just been to the bookies, putting a bet on greyhounds or something.
“He had a real problem with gambling and lost a lot of money. I told him, ‘I don’t think I’ve got a problem.’
“He said, ‘Well don’t wait until you’ve got a problem. Just stop it!’"
In his book, Bridges admits he stopped gambling just in time and says quitting was “one of the best things” he ever did.
We Need to Talk About…Kevin Bridges, published by Michael Joseph, is out on Thursday.
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/entertainment/celebrity/comedian-kevin-bridges-reveals-how-4382374
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