Lovelorn boxing hero Ricky Hatton has smacked down talk of him using dating apps.
“The Hitman” was devastated when his long-time fiancée Jennifer Dooley, 44, left him in 2016 after he went on a string of booze benders. He most recently dated beauty therapist Angela Blemmings, but it’s thought they split late last year.
Ricky told the Daily Star Sunday in a chat from his Manchester mansion: “I’m single now. But I’d like to get married down and settle down.” When asked if he’d be willing to try celebrity dating apps to find love he declared: “No, absolutely not.”
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Ricky had his son Campbell, 22, when he was in his early 20s. He also shares daughters Millie, 11, and Fearne, 10, with ex-fiancée Jennifer.
Jennifer stuck by him when he started to go off the rails after he hung up his gloves, but left when his drinking and partying spiralled into chaos. Ricky has said he decided to drink himself to death in the depths of his depression.
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He also said he desperately fought to keep his mental health woes and all-day crying sessions from his loved ones and pals as he didn’t want them to “worry” or think he was a “weirdo”.
Ricky added: “People, when they hear you’ve got mental health issues, they think you’ve lost the plot or something. For ladies, they’re more likely to share it, but for men, you can’t just tell someone, ‘Give me five minutes of your time – I want to kill myself and I’ve been crying all day.’ You don’t, do you?”
He said about trying to end his life when he was at his lowest: “I’d come in and get a knife to my wrist, and I’d be crying and sobbing all the time." Ricky finally got help by checking into rehab.
But he told us it was a “waste of time” as his carers constantly brushed off his case as alcoholism. He added they didn’t address the trauma he felt at having his booze and drugs binges splashed over the papers after he quit fighting.
They included an infamous front page story that showed snaps of him hoovering up lines of coke he had chopped out with a bank card. Ricky finally got the help he needed at former England football captain Tony Adams’ Sporting Chance rehab and therapy facility.
He said: “Tony Adams’ one helped, and I saw a psychiatrist who helped because he had an understanding of how I felt and what I was going through. He listened to me.”
For emotional support, you can call the Samaritans 24-hour helpline on 116 123, [email protected], visit a Samaritans branch in person or go to the Samaritans website.
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