I'm A Celebrity star Dean McCullough faced homophobia hell from bullies

I'm A Celebrity prima Dean McCullough faced hellhole astatine the hands of homophobic bullies. The Radio 1 DJ besides revealed that getting sober was the champion determination helium ever made aft binges successful the archetypal covid lockdown went excessively far.

In an interrogation with Attitude mag successful 2021, the ex-dancer said helium turned to intoxicant to numb the symptom of being tormented for being gay. He besides told however helium struggled to header with a household situation aft uncovering retired that who helium thought was his dada was not his biologic father. Dean was 15 erstwhile helium overheard his parents having a enactment arsenic their matrimony broke down. It was past helium learned the quality astir his dad. Dean said: “It was midnight. I swung the doorway unfastened and conscionable stood determination and they conscionable looked astatine me. My mummy came implicit and hugged me, but we ne'er spoke astir it.

“The adjacent day, my dada took maine for a thrust and said, ‘You know, this doesn’t alteration anything’. He bought maine a tracksuit and it ne'er got spoken about.” His biologic begetter did a runner aft Dean’s parent became large with him, yet reaching retired to his lad connected societal media aft speechmaking astir him successful a newspaper. Dean said: “I was like, ‘No, goodbye’. I don’t request him. I don’t cognize thing astir him different than what my mum has told me.”

The 29-year-old says helium realised helium was cheery erstwhile helium was “about 10”. His schoolhouse days were miserable due to the fact that helium was terribly bullied. He explained: “Yes, each time successful school. I got beaten up astir 10 times. I don’t privation radical to deliberation I’m a victim. I emotion being gay, but it was a hard time.

“On the outside, radical mightiness think, ‘He looks good put-together, precise happy’, but connected a deeper level, this communicative was being written. As a teenager, I hated the idiosyncratic looking backmost astatine maine successful the mirror. I pushed it each down. I didn’t similar the mode I talked oregon walked. I was truly conscious of however I was antithetic successful each azygous mode from the boys astir me.

“I went to a creation and play schoolhouse from the property of 7 called the Rainbow Factory, truthful I had this colourful, expressive portion of my life, but my schoolhouse beingness was truthful acheronian and volatile. I ne'er told my parents due to the fact that I didn’t privation to accidental wherefore they were beating maine up, truthful I hid it from them for years.”

After fleeing Belfast for London, helium worked arsenic a dancer earlier his beingness changed for ever 4 years agone erstwhile helium walked into the city’s Gaydio offices and convinced them to springiness him a job. This would yet bring him to the attraction of BBC bosses and onshore him the Radio 1 gig helium has now. Dean said: “I privation I’d been capable to beryllium [my parents] down and archer them who I was, but they were excessively engaged tearing each different apart.

“Instead, I ran distant to London to spell to play school. I wanted to spell to Laine Theatre Arts, wherever Victoria Beckham had gone, and that’s wherever I went. Then, erstwhile I was 22, I woke up 1 time successful my level successful Stockwell and thought, ‘Where the f*** is my dad?’ I had stopped talking to him erstwhile they divided up. So, I person abandonment from my dada erstwhile I was a babe and past my dada who brought maine up. We stopped hanging retired aft their break-up.”

He admitted that helium started to get into partying arsenic soon arsenic helium graduated from college, aged 19. He said: “I got invited to property nights and premieres done friends successful the manufacture and would extremity up successful each sorts of situations.

“Wild nights, sneaking into Soho House, ending up successful galore a edifice country with galore a antheral wondering, ‘How has this happened?” Things came to a caput erstwhile his drinking grew retired of power during the archetypal lockdown portion helium was inactive doing his meal show.

He confessed successful the Attitude chat: “I would commencement drinking astatine location connected the Friday lunchtime and not stop. [I was] conscionable being a spot mislaid and frightened and fragile. It was a horrendous clip for everyone and I truly went into it and started drinking bottles and bottles of wine. Me and my person would portion a full litre-bottle of vodka. I was thinking, ‘This is not me. This is not wherefore I’m expected to beryllium here’.

“At Manchester Pride past year, I had a enactment and erstwhile everyone near connected the Monday, I knew it was clip for maine to stop. I planned initially to halt drinking for a month. I didn’t truly bask drinking oregon being drunk. I was spiralling into a truly acheronian place, similar existent slump that I’d ne'er experienced before.

“I was having enactment with aggregate partners erstwhile I broke up with my ex and I had already done each that during my aboriginal years successful London. It was amusive for a portion until you realise it’s conscionable an bare pit. I wasn’t getting thing retired of it. I was hurtling down a roadworthy I didn’t like. He said that getting sober has been “brilliant” and aft respective years connected the wagon declared: “It’s the champion happening I’ve ever done.”

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