Ex-NRL player turned TikTok star Luke Bateman broke down as he opened up about the darkest period of his life.

The 30-year-old, who was recently announced as a contestant on the upcoming season of I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here!, spoke to news.com.au about the gambling addiction he developed while playing for the Canberra Raiders from 2015 to 2019.

Bateman said gambling was a common pastime for players at the club at the time, and he estimates roughly half of his teammates also had addictions.

It was a debilitating pastime, one that cost him about $500,000 during his NRL career.

“It was horrible,” he told news.com.au when asked how bad things got. “I was literally at the point of suicide. I was at the end of the tracks.”

Despite being a well-paid footballer, Bateman was often broke and had to ask his mum to cover his mortgage for him.

“I think when I was in that place I … caused a lot of pain, a lot of misery to my loved ones and my family,” he said. “I was like, well I can end my own pain and I can also end all the pain that I’m causing my loved ones.

“I would not wish it upon my worst enemy,” he continued. “I was in a very, very dark place.”

So what saved him?

“I just got to the point where I had two options left,” Bateman told news.com.au. “Seek help or end it.”

Bateman chose what he described as the more difficult option, partly for his mum.

“I’m so close with my mum and my family,” he said as he became emotional. “Sorry, I’ll tear up a bit.

“I knew that even though I was causing them pain, I knew that they would be in more pain without me.

“So it probably wasn’t even for me in the end,” he said about his decision to seek help. “It was probably more so for them.”

Bateman checked into rehab when his NRL career ended and spent years battling to get his addiction under control.

“Since that day (entering rehab), it’s been five or six years and it’s probably only been in the last 12 to 24 months that things have really gotten to a good place,” he told news.com.au.

“It wasn’t horrible the whole time, but there were years of struggle,” he added.

Bateman hasn’t been shy about sharing his addiction story, and says he’ll continue to talk about it in a bid to help others who are struggling.

When asked what advice he’d give others who are battling similar demons, Bateman said, “I would just say to them that they are loved, and we need their love here, not somewhere else, not gone.”

I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here! premieres on Sunday, January 18 at 7pm on Channel 10