COMEDIAN Kevin Bridges has revealed that he beat a spiralling gambling addiction thanks to sage advice from former Celtic striker John Hartson.
In his autobiography We Need to Talk About... Kevin Bridges, released this week, the 27-year-old millionaire stand-up comic talks frankly about how he began betting obsessively during his rise to stardom.
"I was 18 when I discovered the bookies and then lost £800 in one day," he writes. "It was my first decent comedy club money and I blew it. I was gambling on coupons, machines, everything.
"I won a fair bit on a roulette machine and went out and bought a PlayStation. I took it back the next day because I felt like a flash b******. Like I'd turned into Kanye West or someone."
Bridges, who grew up in Clydebank, near Glasgow, says his betting habit started to grow after his first acclaim on the comedy circuit in 2005.
"Stupidly, I was gambling more frequently," he said. "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."
It was on a night out to a casino during his sell-out 2012 tour that Bridges first realised he was squandering all his hard-earned money.
Talking to former gambling addict and Celtic star Hartson, however, finally convinced the comedian to face his own demons.
"I've not had a bet in two years," he writes. "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.' He said: 'Give the money to charity.'"
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