Grant Denyer broke down in tears as he courageously discussed his struggles with his mental health in a candid new interview.
The TV star, 46, told how he contemplated suicide after breaking his back and becoming addicted to painkillers during one of the darkest times of his life.
I’m speaking to the Hit Network Carrie Bickmore and Tommy Little On Thursday, the former Sunrise weatherman was overcome with emotion as he recalled his struggles.
Grant – who shares daughters Sailor, 10, Scout, six, and Sunday, two, with wife Chezzi – revealed that his family was his only ‘goal’ during the very difficult time.
His voice shaking with emotion, the Deal Or No Deal presenter bravely shared: ‘If I didn’t have… um… a child at the time, I didn’t really see the point in continuing.
Grant Denyer broke down in tears as he courageously discussed his struggles with his mental health in a candid new interview
“I didn’t have much fight left or the will to continue… so it was for her. I did not want to [my daughter] to suffer the pain of not having a father.”
Grant confessed that he struggled with “low self-esteem” and that he didn’t like himself at the time, but loved his daughter enough to get through the very dark period.
“Yes…I could hurt myself. I didn’t see myself that positively. I wasn’t very nice. I had very low self-esteem. I had no self-love. But I loved her enough not to want to hurt her,” he said.
“If you just put one foot in front of the other and go little by little, step by step, you’ll get there.”
The TV star, 46, told how he contemplated suicide after breaking his back and becoming addicted to painkillers during one of the darkest times of his life.
Grant – who shares daughters Sailor, 10, Scout, six, and Sunday, two, with wife Chezzi – revealed his family was his only ‘goal’ during the very difficult time
“Having problems with painkillers after a broken back was the darkest time of my life,” he said on the Carrie and Tommy Show.
‘I won races in Supercars, I presented things like Australia’s Got Talent, Sunrise, and then: the handbrake is pulled on your life and you have to lie still for four months.
‘Every time you close your eyes, you experience your darkest nightmares everywhere. So say your biggest fear is that your wife will leave you, or that your house will be robbed. From the moment you close your eyes, you’re transported straight into the worst-case scenarios, every night.
‘And when you wake up, you can’t tell the difference between reality and your dreams. You believe they all happened.”
In 2014, Grant checked into a wellness center in Thailand with his wife of 14 years Chezzi (both pictured) amid his struggles
Grant often discusses his mental health publicly, sharing how he became addicted to pain medication after breaking his back in a freak monster truck accident in 2008.
The crash left Grant with a vertebra broken into 11 pieces, and doctors feared he might never walk again.
In 2014, Grant visited a wellness center in Thailand that specializes in treating PTSD and exhaustion.
‘Going to Thailand was a challenge, but it was the smartest thing [me and Chezzi] ever done,” he previously shared.
If you have been affected by this story, call Lifeline Australia on 13 11 14 or visit their website lifeline.org.au.