14<\/p>\n Daniel ‘Dapper Laughs’ O’Reilly reveals his wife Shelley Rae left him due to his addictionCredit: Instagram 14<\/p>\n The London-born funnyman saw his ITV2 sketch show cancelled due to risque jokesCredit: Planet Photos 14<\/p>\n Shelley banned him from seeing his kids at the height of his addictionCredit: Instagram<\/p>\n At the time, he was splurging \u00a31,000-a-week on the Class A drug, snorting up to four grams a session, and downing up to three bottles of wine<\/a> or 10 pints and shots of tequila per night.\u00a0<\/p>\n But instead of flying home after the explosive row in October 2022, which followed benders lasting days, the comedian – real name Daniel O\u2019Reilly<\/a> – partied on for five more days.<\/p>\n Now 1,000 days sober<\/a>, the London-born funnyman<\/a> says it was the \u201cdarkest moment of my life\u201d in an unflinchingly honest interview with The Sun.\u00a0<\/p>\n He reveals the deadly debauchery that was \u201cdestroying my family\u201d, the \u201chell\u201d of bring homeless and living on a blow-up bed and what led him to finally accept the blame for being cancelled over his controversial comedy<\/a> routines.\u00a0<\/p>\n Daniel<\/a>, now 41, tells us: \u201cThe night before we went to Spain, Shelley was begging me to stop drinking and using drugs<\/a>, and said, \u2018I don\u2019t want to come to Marbella with you if you\u2019re going to be a mess, can you stop now?\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cI promised I would but as soon as we landed I started. I was an addict. Later she told me, \u2018You\u2019re not welcome back at home and you can\u2019t see the kids until you sort yourself out\u2019.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cShe flew home but I still stayed out there for four or five days partying as if nothing was wrong, like I didn\u2019t have a care in the world, in denial and not thinking about what I had done.<\/p>\n \u201cIt only hit on the final day, I was in my hotel room on my knees, crying my eyes out, thinking \u2018I can\u2019t go home, do I stay and continue taking drugs? Do I take my own life?\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Daniel\u2019s addiction had been steadily escalating for years – dating back to the height of his career in 2014, before he was cancelled over his risque jokes.<\/p>\n Under his alter-ego Dapper Laughs<\/a>, who was based on \u201cheightened, exaggerated versions\u201d of his pals, he was the epitome of hedonistic, partying-obsessed “lad culture”.<\/p>\n Controversial comedian Dapper Laughs accused of ‘triggering’ thousands after mocking his heavily pregnant wife’s walk 14<\/p>\n The comedian, now more than 1,000 days sober, says he ‘cringes’ over his previous routinesCredit: aabzh555 14<\/p>\n His wild boozing and coke habit ‘destroyed everything’Credit: BackGrid 14<\/p>\n Daniel is now 1,000 days sober and launched men’s mental health charity M.A.T.E.Credit: Dapper Laughs<\/p>\n But his remarks, including saying that crying women were just \u201cplaying hard to get\u201d and gags that trivialised rape and sexual assault, sparked nationwide<\/a> furore.<\/p>\n In 2014, his ITV2<\/a> sketch show Dapper Laughs: On The Pull and multiple gigs across the UK were cancelled after a petition with 67,500 signatures, including those of Katherine Ryan<\/a> and Jenny Eclair<\/a>, calling to end his career.<\/p>\n \u201cI was pushing it too far because it was causing so much controversy,\u201d Daniel reflects. \u201cThe likes, the followers, the ego, the attention, it all became an addiction.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe more noise I made, the more tickets I sold. It all happened so fast. I was in my early 20s and very immature, very inconsiderate. I offended a lot of people.\u201d<\/p>\n Daniel became known as \u201cthe most hated man in the UK\u201d and was described by one reviewer as having \u201ctorpedoed his own career\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n His very public fall from grace saw his bad habits escalate from \u201csocial use to a coping mechanism and addiction\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cDuring that period I was extremely embarrassed, I wanted to escape myself and my life and alcohol became how I did it,\u201d he says.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI lost all my money<\/a>, I couldn\u2019t work, I ended up losing my house. I started drinking and using drugs on my own, then the worse I felt the more I did it.\u00a0<\/p>\n I blamed the press. I blamed the industry. I blamed cancel culture and mob culture. I had to mature to realise all of this happened because of the way I behaved<\/p>\n Daniel O’Reilly<\/p>\n \u201cThen my father died in 2016 and I just couldn\u2019t handle life anymore. I broke up with my missus and was living above my dealer.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cOnce I was up all night sniffing gear and thought about taking my own life. That\u2019s when I rang the Samaritans<\/a>, and it still took me six years to get sober from that point.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n In between that time, Daniel appeared on Celebrity Big Brother<\/a> in 2018, in a failed bid to change public perceptions of him. Upon leaving the house, he proposed to Shelley on live TV<\/a>.<\/p>\n Four years later in 2022, and after just three months of marriage<\/a>, his wife dumped him on the trip to Marbella, to attend to premiere for the film The Last Heist.<\/p>\n \u201cShortly after our honeymoon I kept telling my wife and myself that I would cut down and not use drugs, not go out on benders,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n \u201cBut the more stressed I got, the more I drank until it was uncontrollable. My wife had enough of the hangovers, me coming in at all hours and not showing up for our family.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n ‘All-night binges’<\/p>\n Despite being father to daughters Roux and Neve<\/a>, then three and six, he would disappear for days at a time and was boozing or using drugs up to three times a week.<\/p>\n \u201cI spent a lot of time pretending to be successful and a good father online but I was out drinking and taking drugs when I should have been learning to be a parent,\u201d Daniel says.<\/p>\n “I would explode and storm off to the pub or my wife and kids would get up in the morning and I would have been up all night doing cocaine.\u201d<\/p>\n The dangerous debauchery led Daniel to \u201cruin family celebrations\u201d and tainted beautiful moments like the births of his children and the couple’s wedding.<\/p>\n 14<\/p>\n Dan splashed out \u00a3150,000 on a sports carCredit: INSTAGRAM 14<\/p>\n He went on Celebrity Big Brother back in 2018Credit: Eroteme 14<\/p>\n Daniel, pictured at a 2018 film premiere, regularly had all-night drug binges and disappeared for days at a timeCredit: CAN\/Capital Pictures<\/p>\n \u201cWith my wedding it was a bit of a blur at the end, which was a shame,\u201d he says. \u201cDrinking was a big part of the day and it saddens me seeing pictures that I don\u2019t remember.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWetting the baby\u2019s head were big ones and with both of my daughters\u2019 births, I went out with my friends and they turned into two-day benders when my wife needed me the most.<\/p>\n \u201cThey are painful memories around such beautiful memories. I hold a lot of shame and guilt for that. It\u2019s that pain that I sit with to keep sober today.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n ‘Like hell’<\/p>\n When Daniel flew back to the UK from Marbella, he had been kicked out by Shelley<\/a> and was forced to stay at his late grandparents\u2019 home, which was empty and in the process of being sold.<\/p>\n It was there he would spend a week detoxing before going into rehab.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was like hell,\u201d Daniel says. \u201cThere was only a cross on the wall to stare at. There was no TV, no furniture, nothing apart from an inflatable mattress my uncle brought around.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI remember crying uncontrollably, the only thing I could think was \u2018Let\u2019s get fucked, let\u2019s drink everything\u2019 but I knew after Marbella it had to stop.<\/p>\n \u201cI was terrified to leave the house, fearing I would wander into a pub or see someone. I was desperate to drink despite alcohol having destroyed everything.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI managed to abstain through a really difficult time. Any addict will tell you being in your own mind is horrific. It was the first step to recovery before entering rehab.<\/p>\n I would explode and storm off to the pub or my wife and kids would get up in the morning and I would have been up all night doing cocaine<\/p>\n Daniel<\/p>\n \u201cBut even then I still thought, \u2018Maybe I can still blag this, get her back, sort myself out and maybe still drink\u2019 now I realise that\u2019s not possible.\u201d<\/p>\n Daniel acknowledges he\u2019s \u201calways in recovery\u201d, more than 1,000 days into his sobriety, and \u201cstill romantises\u201d drinking and drug-taking at times.<\/p>\n No longer using his vices to block out his demons, he did a lot of soul searching and began to own the mistakes which led to him being cancelled.\u00a0<\/p>\n Reflecting on how he used to behave and the jokes he used to tell, Daniel tells us: \u201cI watch back my lad culture content and cringe.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Daniel acknowledges he was \u201cpushing it too far\u201d and instead of taking accountability in the past, he looked to outsource it onto others.\u00a0<\/p>\n He says: \u201cI blamed the press. I blamed the industry. I blamed cancel culture and mob culture. I had to mature to realise all of this happened because of the way I behaved.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI was perceived as an evil, hateful person at the time but hand on my heart there was never any malice in what I said. I was just a kn*b.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI never meant for my content to be triggering or upsetting, especially to those who have been victim to rape or sexual harassment, and from the bottom of my heart I apologise.”<\/p>\n 14<\/p>\n Daniel appeared on Celebrity Big Brother in 2018Credit: WENN 14<\/p>\n Daniel is grateful his wife forgave him after his addiction hellCredit: Instagram\/dappersinstagram 14<\/p>\n He has three daughters and a fourth child on the wayCredit: Instagram\/dappersinstagramRock bottom<\/p>\n Daniel\u2019s far from alone in his struggles with men accounting for 75 per cent of all suicides in the UK, much of it down to the stigma around therapy and seeking help.<\/p>\n This crisis led him to found the charity<\/a> M.A.T.E. – standing for Men And Their Emotions<\/a> – which has more than 50,000 members in a support group online.\u00a0<\/p>\n To raise money for it, Daniel is putting on Stand Up Comedy for M.A.T.E.\u2019s + Men\u2019s Mental Health<\/a>, which also stars Lee Nelson, at the Indigo in London\u2019s O2 Arena on July 18.<\/p>\n It will fund more \u2018dry houses\u2019, which are alcohol and substance free homes for recovering addicts, and help others to access counselling online.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s like a free rehab,\u201d Daniel says. \u201cBecause traditional rehab is too expensive for the average working class man and to support people\u2019s mental health<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n He believes the UK is amid an alcohol addiction crisis partially because \u201cit\u2019s our culture to drink at every opportunity\u201d but that comes at a cost.<\/p>\n I was terrified to leave the house, fearing I would wander into a pub or see someone. I was desperate to drink despite alcohol having destroyed everything<\/p>\n Daniel <\/p>\n \u201cIt was only once I hit two massive rock bottoms that I realised I was destroying my family and the very thing that was \u2018helping me cope\u2019 was causing that destruction,” he says.<\/p>\n Now with 1,000 days of sobriety under his belt, as of last week, he can\u2019t quite believe how much his life has changed in that time.\u00a0<\/p>\n He was reunited with Shelley, who eventually opened up about the “trauma” he had put her through, although it took over a year to fully regain her trust. <\/p>\n The couple have now had a third daughter and he has a fourth child on the way.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s a blessing that the poster boy of cancel culture around misogyny was gifted with three beautiful daughters – and maybe a fourth on the way,” he says. “Is that not karma?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n He says that sobriety has made him “present and a better father\u201d adding: \u201cBefore, in a week, I\u2019d spend two or three days drinking and the rest of the time hungover and recovering.\u201d<\/p>\n In 2024, he also embarked on his first tour in seven years, sold out 60 shows and is launching another 70-date tour soon, as well as writing a film and script.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThose are just some of the things that have happened In 1,000 days, I couldn\u2019t have done any of that if I wasn\u2019t sober,\u201d Daniel says.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s mad and if that isn\u2019t proof that accountability and change is key, I don\u2019t know what it is.\u201d<\/p>\n Tickets for Daniel O\u2019Reilly\u2019s charity fundraiser Stand Up Comedy for M.A.T.E.\u2019s + Men\u2019s Mental Health can be found at:\u00a0www.theo2.co.uk<\/a>. For his charity visit:\u00a0www.menandtheiremotions.org.uk<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n![\"Dapper](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/dapper-laughs-girlfriend-rae-255048179.jpg\")
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