The 42-year-old former professional boxer said: "I've done the drinking, the crime, the drugs. We all lose control sometimes and I lost control."
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Former boxer Audley Harrison has revealed his secret past of cocaine, cannabis and gambling addiction.
The 42-year-old Olympic gold-medal winning pugilist spoke about his criminal past, surviving Class A drugs and getting hooked on gambling at the age of just nine in an interview before entering the Celebrity Big Brother house.
The Londoner, whose brother Vincent was found dead six years ago after taking a lethal cocktail of cocaine and heroin, told the Daily Star Sunday: "I've done the drinking, the crime, the drugs.
"We all lose control sometimes and I lost control.
"The main thing is I got through it - some people don't come out of the darkness."
Audley made history at the 2000 Olympics in Syndey when he became the first Brit to win super-heavyweight gold.
He went on to sign a £1 million deal with BBC Sport but was devastated when boxing was dropped from the channel's schedules in 2004.
He said he first started gambling on fruit machines aged 9 but things gor worse when he moved to Las Vegas.
"I gambled a lot of money," he said.
"I was an addict at nine and it was always there festering, waiting for me to go back - like an alcoholic walking past a liquor store."
But Audley beat his habit after quitting Sin City and is now happier than ever enjoying family life with wife Raychel, 33, and children Ariella, seven and Hudson Hugh, one.
