One of the stars of this year's I'm A Celebrity has experienced a difficult past, having faced homelessness and 'dark days'.
Dean McCullough, now a familiar voice on BBC Radio 1, is gearing up to spend up to three weeks in the jungle with other celebrities like Coleen Rooney and Oti Mabuse.
Despite his current high-profile life as a Radio 1 presenter and regular panellist on Big Brother: Late and Live, Dean's journey to success was fraught with challenges.
Earlier this year, Dean opened up about his experience with hidden homelessness, which involves being in temporary accommodation or needing to sofa surf at friends' places. In a heartfelt discussion with The Big Issue, he revealed that he never saw himself as homeless because he wasn't on the streets.
Yet, he acknowledges the significant impact such instability can have on the mental health of young people in similar predicaments, reports OK!.
He shared: "We weren't living on the street, we were living on my aunt's house on a sofa. I was moving between houses on a regular basis."
Dean opened up about the struggles he faced after his parents' separation, revealing that for a year his family had no fixed address. He also recounted years of couch surfing when he first arrived in London to chase his dream in musical theatre.
He shared: "I have problems with my possessions and feeling like I need to take care of absolutely everything around me. That comes down to moving from house to house and not ever feeling like anything was ever truly mine."
He also spoke about the instinct to flee at the first sign of trouble, saying: "As soon as I sensed any kind of danger, I'd be straight out of [where I was staying]... for a long time I had no fixed address. I would go out on the Thursday and just stay out all weekend because I just didn't want to go home."
But Dean's candidness doesn't stop at homelessness; he's also been open about his battles with alcohol. In a heartfelt conversation with Scott Thomas on the podcast Learning As I Go, Dean disclosed: "Alcoholism runs in my family and I've got a lot of friends that have been alcohol dependent so I just thought it was my turn."
He went on to describe a moment of realisation about his drinking habits: "I looked at my bins in my apartment and it was like, three bottles of red, a bottle of vodka, a bottle of prosecco, I was like 'who drank that? ' Oh it was me."
Now living a sober lifestyle, Dean admits that some of his most challenging times came during the Covid-19 pandemic. It was then that he recognised his drinking problem while presenting the breakfast show on Gaydio.
He opened up to iNews, revealing: "It was the pandemic, and I just got myself into a bad way and I was sort of thinking some really, really dark thoughts to myself. Anybody who's kind of struggled with mental health will know what it's like."
He further shared his turning point, stating: "I just saw the path in front of me and it wasn't nice. It was really dark and it was very destructive and I thought, if I want to get to Radio 1, which was always my dream, if I want to do that, I need to make some changes."
I'm A Celebrity Get Out Of Here returns on Sunday at 9pm on ITV1 and ITVX
